TRASH-FILLED BALLOON. This image by Yonhap News Agency shows trash-filled balloons sent by North Korea into the South. Pyongyang has said it would halt sending trash to South Korea if Seoul would stop sending leaflets. (Yonhap)
SEOUL – A North Korean defectors' group said Thursday it has sent about 10 large plastic balloons carrying propaganda leaflets against the North Korean regime across the border, raising concerns Pyongyang could resume sending trash-filled balloons.
Filled with 200,000 flyers criticizing the regime, dollar bills, and USB sticks loaded with K-pop and trot music, the balloons were floated from Pocheon, north of Seoul, early Thursday, according to Park Sang-hak, head of the Fighters for a Free North Korea (FFNK).
Since last week, Pyongyang has sent nearly 1,000 balloons carrying trash to the South in what it called a "tit-for-tat" action against such anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaigns.
After the South Korean government on Sunday warned of "unendurable" measures, including resuming loudspeaker broadcasting, the North said it would temporarily halt dropping balloons across the border.
North Korea, however, also warned it would send "a hundred times the amount of toilet paper and filth" of what the South sends, raising concerns the reclusive country could start the waste-filled campaign again.
The FFNK has sent balloons carrying similar goods across the border although such acts are banned in South Korea under a law that was legislated during the previous administration to help reduce tensions in the border regions. (Yonhap)
