South Korea activists defy warning to fly balloons into North Korea

SEOUL — An activist group in South Korea said on Thursday (June 6) it had flown balloons into North Korea carrying leaflets criticising leader Kim Jong-un, just days after Pyongyang sent thousands of balloons carrying trash in the other direction over the border.

Park Sang-hak, a defector who fled North Korea in 2000, said his group, Fighters For Free North Korea, had launched 10 balloons from the border town of Pocheon with 200,000 flyers, 5,000 USB sticks containing K-pop videos and dramas, and 2,000 $1 notes.

North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea have for decades released balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets and aid parcels across the heavily fortified frontier.

Park's latest campaign came after North Korea recently said it had sent 3,500 balloons carrying 15 tons of trash into the south. The balloons, in some cases also carrying excrement, sparked tension in border towns and prompted Seoul to suspend a 2018 inter-Korean military pact and resume military activities around the border.

Images provided by Park showed one leaflet consisting of a photograph of Kim and his sister with a note reading: "The enemy of the people Kim Jong-un sent filth and trash to the people of the Republic of Korea, but we defectors send truth and love to our North Korean compatriots," using the South's official name.

Other images showed Park and his colleagues holding balloons carrying packages at night.

"Kim Jong-un has inflicted the worst insult and humiliation on 50 million of our people," the group said in a statement, referring to the trash balloons and vowing to continue sending leaflets until Kim apologised.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, in his Memorial Day speech on Thursday, reaffirmed his pledge to build