South Korean activists say they launched balloons carrying hundreds of thousands of leaflets across the border with North Korea on Tuesday amid escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea has expressed anger over its neighbor’s civilian leafleting campaign against Kim Jong Un's regime, repeatedly warning it will retaliate against such actions. Meanwhile, South Korea's government has made attempts to stop the practice.
SOUTH KOREA'S UNIFICATION MINISTER RESIGNS AMID RISING TENSIONS WITH NORTH
Despite this, activist Park Sang-Hak, who fled North Korea to the South, said he’ll keep sending anti-Kim leaflets, calling the dictator "evil” and saying he rules with “barbarism.”
정 총리는 "북한에서 우리 쪽 전단을 이유로 문제를 제기했기 때문에 그 문제는 바로잡아야 한다"며 "관련 (탈북민) 단체는 남북관계를 냉각하고 악화시키는 계기를 만든 전단 살포를 당장 중단하라"고 했다. 또 "정부는 역량을 동원해 살포를 꼭 막아내겠다"고도 했다.
A balloon carrying a banner with images of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, left, the late leader Kim Il Sung, center, and Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of Kim Jong Un, released by Fighters For Free North Korea, is seen in Hongcheon, South Korea, on Tuesday. (Yang Ji-woong/Yonhap via AP)
Park said his organization floated 20 huge balloons carrying 500,000 leaflets, 2,000 $1 bills and small books on North Korea from the border town of Paju on Monday night. In a statement, he called this action “a struggle for justice for the sake of [the] liberation of” North Koreans.
“Though North Korean residents have become modern-day slaves with no basic rights, don’t they have the rights to know the truth?” he said.
NORTH KOREA LIKELY TO ATTACK US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION IN NOVEMBER, ANALYSTS WARN
South Korean civilian leafleting has intensified already high tensions between the two neighbors amid stalled nuclear talks with the U.S. Experts say Pyongyang is likely using the leafleting to apply more pressure on Seoul and Washington and force new talks.
Police officers ride a boat to collect a balloon carrying a banner with images of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the late leader Kim Il Sung and Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of Kim Jong Un, in Hongcheon, South Korea, on Tuesday. (Yang Ji-woong/Yonhap via AP)
Last week, North Korea destroyed an empty inter-Korean liaison office on its territory in anger over South Korean civilian leafleting against the Kim regime.
The animosity intensified Monday when the North pushed to resume its psychological warfare against the South, saying it was ready to float 12 million leaflets of its own across the border.
South Korea has since vowed to ban leafleting and said they would press charges against Park and other anti-Pyongyang activists for allegedly raising animosities and potentially endangering front-line border residents.
Eric Shawn: Who is Kim Yo-Jong?
Gordon Chang on the kid sister who could take over North Korea.
Gyeonggi province official Kim Min-yeong said the province will demand the police investigate Park if his leafleting is confirmed. The penalty for violations is a year in prison or a maximum 10 million won ($8,200) fine.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Meanwhile, Park has accused South Korea’s liberal government of sympathizing with North Korea or caving to its threats. He previously said he would push to drop a million leaflets over the border around Thursday, the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean War.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
No comments:
Post a Comment