This file photo, taken April 23, 2025, shows balloons carrying leaflets calling for North Korea’s repatriation of South Koreans abducted by the North in Paju, just northwest of Seoul. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Police plan to dispatch mobile units to border areas to prevent activists from sending anti-North Korea leaflets across the border, the unification ministry said Monday after a pan-government meeting to discuss ways to curb “illegal” leaflet campaigns.
The move came as President Lee Jae-myung ordered measures Saturday to prevent launches of leaflets critical of North Korea and punish violators of related laws as he seeks to mend frayed ties with the North.
Earlier in the day, the unification ministry presided over a meeting to discuss ways to curb anti-Pyongyang leaflet launches with related government agencies, including the office of the National Security Council, the land and interior ministries, and the police agency.
The meeting came as a civic group sent balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets toward North Korea in defiance of the government’s stern warning, spawning concerns about the safety of residents in border areas due to the North’s potential military actions.
The participants in the meeting “shared the assessment that it is the nation’s important duty to (promote) peace on the Korean Peninsula, and protect the lives and safety of residents in border areas,” the unification ministry said in a release.
Police plan to dispatch mobile units and regional police officers to key border areas to curb such leaflet launches, and regional judiciary police officers will ramp up their patrols in areas where activists are likely to launch leaflets.
The government said it will also review potential revisions to related laws, including the Aviation Safety Act, in a bid to enhance the effectiveness of punishment.
The unification ministry will seek cooperation with the National Assembly to pursue a revision to the so-called law banning leaflet launches before the Aug. 15 Liberation Day.
Earlier this month, the ministry voiced “regret” over the latest leaflet launch by a group of families of those abducted by North Korea and “strongly” called on them to suspend the campaign.
It marked the first time the ministry has called for a halt to leaflet campaigns since the Constitutional Court ruled in September 2023 that the law banning leaflet campaigns is unconstitutional, citing freedom of expression.
Last year, the land ministry judged the launch of leaflet-carrying balloons that weigh more than 2 kilograms could be in violation of the Aviation Safety Act that regulates drone flights.
The Act on Disaster and Safety Management prohibits unauthorized access to areas designated as risk-prone. Last year, the government of Gyeonggi Province designated the cities of Paju and Gimpo and Yeoncheon County — areas near the border with the North — as such zones and stepped up police patrols.
North Korea has bristled at North Korean defectors in the South and conservative activists’ leaflet campaigns on concerns that an influx of outside information could threaten the Kim Jong-un regime.
President Lee has promised to halt anti-North leaflet launches and the military’s propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts along the border as part of his election pledges to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and improve ties with Pyongyang.
South Korea’s military suspended its yearlong loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea on Wednesday, and North Korea paused its broadcasts of loud noises targeting South Korea the next day.
(Yonhap)
