South Korea police have prevented activists from launching balloons and bringing propaganda leaflets to the North, following the landmark summit where the leaders of the two Koreas agreed to cease hostile activities at the border.
The activist group, spearheaded by North Korean defectors, gathered in the city of Paju on Saturday, preparing to release propaganda balloons into the North. Ahead of the planned launch, the activists were confronted by local anti-leaflet protesters, who tried to disrupt the launch. Some 150 Paju locals protested the event, and the police had to intervene when the opposing activists engaged in minor scuffles.
The balloon release, however, never happened, as the police prevented the truck packed with the items, leaflets and gas canisters from reaching the launch site. The group had prepared 150,000 leaflets, 1,000 $1 bills and 500 booklets authored by a North Korean defector, according to the group’s leader Park Sang-hak. The propaganda booklet was about the economic growth and prosperity in the South that followed the 1950-53 Korean War.
The actions of the South Korean authorities were in line with the last week’s landmark summit, held by the leaders of the North and South.
