Activists Respond to North Korean Garbage Balloons with Leaflets and Music Drives
In a move highlighting escalating tensions, South Korean activists have launched balloons carrying anti-Kim Jong Un leaflets and flash drives with South Korean music into North Korea. This action follows North Korea’s recent deployment of balloons filled with garbage, including cigarette butts and plastic waste, into South Korea.
Retaliation and warnings
North Korea claimed its trash balloons were a retaliation for similar actions by South Korean activists and warned of further measures if the leafleting continued. “The defector group Free North Korea Movement announced (Thursday) that they had launched 200,000 leaflets towards North Korea early in the morning,” as reported by Yonhap News Agency.
Activists’ message and government response
A photo from the South Korean activist group showed members holding a large poster depicting Kim Jong Un and his sister, Kim Yo Jong, with a message condemning Kim’s regime. “Enemy of the people Kim Jong Un sent filth and trash to the South Korean people, but we the defectors send truth and love to our fellow North Koreans!” the poster proclaimed.
In response to North Korea’s actions, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has suspended a 2018 military agreement aimed at reducing tensions with the North. Seoul will resume live fire drills and loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the border, tactics that have previously irritated Kim Jong Un’s regime. North Korea has threatened strikes against the loudspeaker units if they are not turned off.
Cultural infiltration
Earlier this week, the Free North Korea Movement disclosed that they had sent balloons with around 2,000 USB flash drives containing songs by South Korean singer Lim Young-woong, along with other K-pop and K-drama content, into North Korea on May 10. This cultural infiltration aims to offer North Koreans a glimpse into South Korean entertainment and lifestyles.