Rising Tensions: Balloon Warfare Between North and South Korea Escalates
South Korean activists sent ten balloons filled with anti-Kim Jong-un leaflets to North Korea, Yonhap agency announced, in response to Pyongyang’s recent sending of balloons filled with garbage. “The Free North Korea defector movement announced that it had launched 200,000 leaflets to North Korea early this morning,” the South Korean news agency reported.
The movement’s leader, Park Sang-hak, stated that the balloons also carried USB drives with South Korean music. “The enemy of the people Kim Jong-un sent filth and waste to the South Koreans but we, the defectors, send truth and love to our fellow North Koreans,” reads a statement from the movement. These activities come in defiance of North Korea’s strict ban on such material.
On the diplomatic front, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced the suspension of a 2018 military detente agreement with North Korea. This suspension allows Seoul to resume live-fire exercises and relaunch propaganda campaigns along the border through loudspeakers. The agreement had already largely lapsed last year after North Korea placed a spy satellite into orbit, prompting South Korea to partially suspend the deal. Pyongyang has since assured that it will no longer honor the agreement.
In a new development, the South Korean army announced it would resume military activity near the separation line with North Korea. A security official stated during an emergency briefing that the army would “take all necessary steps to protect the lives and safety of our citizens in response to North Korea's provocations,” citing damage to property and significant threats to citizen safety caused by the garbage balloons.
Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, mocked South Korea's outrage over the balloons, stating that North Koreans were merely exercising their freedom of speech. However, Pyongyang announced it would halt sending garbage balloons after claiming their message had been delivered.
During a brief reconciliation period between 2018 and 2020, both countries agreed to cease hostile actions, including leaflet distributions. Seoul even passed a law in 2020 making the act of sending leaflets to the North a criminal offense. However, activists continued their campaigns, leading North Korea that year to sever official communications and destroy an inter-Korean liaison office. Last year, South Korea’s Constitutional Court struck down the 2020 law, citing excessive restrictions on freedom of expression, further escalating tensions.
- Additionally, North Korea recently released a song titled "Friendly Father," praising leader Kim Jong Un. This could be viewed as part of its continued propaganda efforts amid escalating tensions with South Korea.
- South Korean activists have a long history of sending materials to North Korea, aimed at providing North Koreans with information and entertainment that contrasts sharply with the North Korean regime's narrative. Among the materials often sent are USB drives containing K-pop music and South Korean dramas, which are banned in North Korea but highly popular among defectors.
