Leaflet launches put border residents, anti-North activists at odds

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Leaflet launches put border residents, anti-North activists at odds

Published: 06 Nov. 2024, 17:13 Updated: 06 Nov. 2024, 19:08

LEE SOO-JUNG
lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr

A drone carrying an anti-regime poster is seen flying in the sky over Paju, Gyeonggi, last Thursday. The drone was prepared by relatives of North Korean abductees. [NEWS1]

Conflict is growing between residents near the inter-Korean border and activist groups attempting to send anti-regime leaflets to the North in what is framed as a battle between the right to live in peace and freedom of expression.

Relatives of South Koreans abducted by North Korea announced their plan to launch anti-Pyongyang flyers across the border sometime this month, despite a thwarted attempt last week due to strong resistance from residents and restrictions by the local authorities.

In response to their notice, around 380 people claiming to represent the province of Gyeonggi formed a group called the “People of Gyeonggi’s Action for Peace” and demanded the two Koreas immediately halt mutual hostilities they blamed for increasing the risk of war. They also asked both countries to engage in dialogue.

On Tuesday, over 20 members of the group announced a statement dubbed the “Declaration of 10 million Gyeonggi Residents” in Paju, a border city in northern Gyeonggi.

In the statement, the group criticized President Yoon Suk Yeol's administration for opposing measures to alleviate tensions and promote peaceful coexistence with the North in favor of a peace-through-strength approach.

“The recent drone controversy, with the South and North blaming one another, and the launching of leaflets and trash balloons could develop into a military clash,” the group said in its statement.

Residents of Paju, northern Gyeonggi, protest with tractors to block activists from sending anti-regime flyers across the inter-Korean border last Thursday. [NEWS1]

Kim Yong-chol, a former communications officer of the Gyeonggi provincial government who currently works for a group representing Gyeonggi residents, said, “There are multiple historical occasions where small and minor conflicts between the South and North escalated into localized clashes.” Kim said people should lead the way in turning the risk of war into an opportunity to build peace through dialogue based on coexistence.

On Oct. 31, residents of villages near the border in Paju and the minor liberal Saemirae Party filed an injunction to the local court to prevent attempts to send anti-regime leaflets by three groups that represent North Korean defectors and the relatives of abductees.

In the injunction complaint, the complainants said the three groups’ actions of sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border were a “reason” for escalating inter-Korean tension and a “violation of the right to happiness and right to life” of people in the border areas.

“Although the Constitutional Court ruled that prohibiting the sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets was unconstitutional, those leaflets have become a threat to people’s security,” the group opposing the launching of anti-regime flyers said.

Park Sang-hak, head of Fighters for a Free North Korea, displays an anti-regime propaganda poster in Paju, northern Gyeonggi, last Thursday. [YONHAP]

However, Choi Seong-ryong, a representative of the abductees’ relatives, said his group is also “preparing to file an injunction to receive permission to send leaflets demanding that Pyongyang protect our abducted relatives."

The abductees' relatives plan to deliver 100,000 leaflets through balloons and farming drones, according to a report from Yonhap News Agency on Friday.

“Although normal drones crashed due to a loss of signal once they entered North Korean airspace, the agricultural drones will not experience such glitches and can carry 5,000 to 6,000 leaflets per single flight,” Choi said on the same day.

BY JEON ICK-JIN, CHOI MO-RAN, LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]