Park Sang-Hak, a North Korean defector and head of the Fighters for a Free North Korea (FFNK), told Yonhap News Agency on May 8 that his group had flown 20 balloons across the western border into North Korea last week.
The balloons reportedly carried vitamin C tablets, Tylenol pills and booklets denouncing North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un and criticizing Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile threats. The FFNK had also sent similar balloons about eight months ago.
Cross-border propaganda is against South Korean law
The two Koreas have agreed to stop cross-border propaganda, including flyers, several times since the 1970s. In 2018, the administration of former South Korean president Moon Jae-In eventually banned this kind of activism in an effort to de-escalate tensions on the peninsula. Violators face a maximum penalty of three years in prison or a fine of KRW 30 million (USD 22,636).
Koo Byoung-Sam, a spokesperson for the South’s Unification Ministry, thus criticized the FFNK’s latest action in a press briefing. “There is no change in the government’s stance that the distribution of leaflets should be refrained in consideration of factors including sensitive inter-Korean circumstances and concerns of border area residents,” he is quoted by Yonhap.
Fighters for a Free North Korea (FFNK)
The Fighters for a Free North Korea is an organization founded by North Korean defectors and activists based in South Korea. The group has been floating anti-regime leaflets over the inter-Korean border and sent off over a million balloons since 2004.
The balloons generally reach their destination area after three to four hours in the air. They are timed to release their cargo over the Pyongyang area.
In 2020, the South Korean Unification Ministry revoked the FFNK’s operating license, stating that their operations “raise tensions” and “harm public interest.” The group has appealed the decision, which is currently under review.
Edited by Robert Lauler.
