In retaliation for hundreds of trash-laden balloons from Pyongyang, South Korean activists announced on Thursday that they had sent ten balloons into North Korea filled with anti-Kim Jong Un literature and K-pop songs.
According to North Korea, the recent balloon bombardment, which included bags of trash including plastic waste and cigarette butts, was a form of reprisal for earlier letters the activists had sent.
Although Pyongyang declared the campaign over on Sunday, it has threatened to recommence if more balloons headed north.
Propaganda stunts in the past have affected inter-Korean relations in the real world.
Though it is not in violation of UN sanctions on Kim’s isolated dictatorship, the garbage campaign is deemed “irrational” and “low-class” by South Korea, which has denounced the latest provocation from its nuclear-armed neighbor.
Fighters for Free North Korea, a group of defectors, declared on Thursday that they had successfully launched ten balloons towards the north with 200,000 leaflets, 5,000 USB flash drives filled with Korean pop music and TV series, and thousands of one-dollar bills.
A photograph released by the group showed an activist holding up a large poster with photographs of Kim Jong Un and his sister and chief regime spokeswoman Kim Yo Jong.
“Enemy of the people Kim Jong Jun sent filth and trash to the South Korean people, but we the defectors send truth and love to our fellow North Koreans!” the poster says.
According to statements made earlier this week, the same activist group delivered balloons filled with over 2,000 USB drives into the North on May 10. The disks contained music by South Korean artist Lim Young-woong as well as other K-pop and K-dramas.
When it comes to its citizens’ access to the thriving popular culture of the South, North Korea is exceedingly cautious.
Last week, Kim Yo Jong made fun of South Korea’s complaints regarding its balloons, claiming that North Koreans were just using their right to free speech and threatening to take proportionate action if more balloons appeared.
A rule prohibiting the dissemination of anti-Kim leaflets across the border was passed by the South Korean parliament in 2020, during which time President Moon Jae-in was trying to negotiate with the North.
However, the regulation was overturned by the Constitutional Court last year on the grounds that it unnecessarily restricted free speech, and as a result, the government no longer has the authority to obstruct the balloons, as lawyer Yoo Jung-hoon told AFP.
“While there could be political criticisms that such acts do not lead to improved lives of North Koreans, there is no legal basis for the authorities to force civic groups to stop,” he stated.
