This image of leaflet balloons sent to North Korea is provided by a civic group representing families of those abducted by North Korea. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 9 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean families of those abducted by North Korea have sent large balloons filled with leaflets to the North, urging the regime to repatriate their loved ones, a group representing such families said Friday.
Three giant latex balloons were flown northward from a South Korean border area in Gangwon Province the previous night, carrying some 1,000 leaflets about abductees in North Korea, the civic group said.
It marks the group’s latest controversial leaflet campaign, following its previous balloon launch from the South Korean border city of Paju on April 27.
Through its on-and-off leaflet campaign, the group has demanded information on the whereabouts of seven people abducted by the North, including Megumi Yokota from Japan and five other Koreans abducted as high school students in the 1970s, and has called for their repatriation.
Citing data from a GPS signaling device attached to one of the balloons, the group said it landed in an area south of North Korea’s Kumgang county near the inter-Korean border.
The group’s leader said he will not stop sending leaflet balloons until he confirms whether his abducted father and other abductees are still alive.
The leaflet campaign has often drawn backlash from border residents and government officials who fear it could provoke retaliation from North Korea, jeopardizing border safety.
(Yonhap)
