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Abductee family group to consider not sending leaflets to North

Published: 24 Jun. 2025, 14:24

Leaflets bound for North Korea flutter from a large balloon during the ″Safe Return Memorial Ceremony″ hosted by the Families of Abductees to North Korea Association near Peace Land at Imjingak in Paju, Gyeonggi, on April 23. [NEWS1]

A South Korean civic group representing families of abductees held in North Korea said Tuesday it will consider suspending the distribution of anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.

Choi Seong-ryong, the head of the group, said he received a positive message by phone from a high-ranking government official on Monday and will later decide whether to stop sending leaflets to North Korea after discussions with group members.

The remarks came after Choi told reporters a week ago that his group is willing to halt the leaflet distribution if President Lee Jae Myung helps confirm whether the abductees are alive or dead through dialogue with the North and meets and comforts families of the abductees, particularly those in their 90s.

This year, Choi's group sent anti-North Korean leaflets across the border by balloons or drones from Imjingak in Paju on April 27, from Cheorwon in Gangwon Province on May 8 and from a border area in Paju on June 2.

But the Lee government has said it will consider revising the relevant laws and take steps to block the distribution of anti-North leaflets from the border areas.

Members of the Families of Abductees to North Korea Association prepare to launch balloons carrying leaflets toward North Korea behind the fence at Peace Land in Paju, Gyeonggi, on April 27. [ABDUCTEE FAMILY ASSOCIATION]

"The current government officials understand the abduction issue better than anyone else, and they have helped us a lot in the past. I hope this government will definitely create an opportunity to confirm whether the abduction victims are alive or dead through inter-Korean dialogue," said Choi in a meeting with reporters after paying his respects at the Belgium-Luxembourg War Memorial in Dongducheon, north of Seoul, to mark the 75th anniversary of the 1950-53 Korean War.

Choi's father was kidnapped in 1967 while fishing near Yeonpyeong Island in the Yellow Sea and executed in North Korea in 1972 due to his history of cooperating with the U.S. military during the Korean War.

Yonhap