North Korea advised people not to read propaganda leaflets sent by the South through balloons, suggesting that COVID-19 could reach the country via the drops. The state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper advised people to keep away from the leaflets and think and move under the COVID-19 guidance, as per the Yonhap news agency.
Propaganda leaflets sent in North Korea deemed to carry coronavirus potentially
North Korea has not confirmed any cases of COVID-19 since the outbreak began. "Even when we come across a strange object floating in the wind, we must regard them as a potential path of infection rather than a natural phenomenon," it said, as per The Independent. The problem of propaganda leaflets and balloons being flown from South Korea has been a long-running one, with North Korea's Kim Jong Un calling it a provocation and threatening retaliation.
Park Sang-Hak, an activist and well-known North Korean defector, was raided by South Korean police on Thursday. Park claimed to have floated hundreds of thousands of propaganda leaflets against North Korea by balloon. Despite a controversial new law prohibiting the flight of leaflets, USB drives, or money into North Korea, he floated the balloons. Violations of the current legislation could result in a sentence of up to three years in jail.
Since the new legislation went into effect in March, the activist is the first to investigate. The Seoul Metropolitan Police raided the activist's office in response to his statement that his party had released balloons carrying 500,000 leaflets, 5,000 one-dollar notes, and 500 booklets about South Korea's economic growth across the border last week. Still, the police declined to provide any further information.
On the other hand, the protester is defiant and stated after the raid that he will continue to launch balloons. Following the border balloons, Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong Un's sister, said that North Korean defectors in South Korea had recently spread leaflets toward the North.
She described their actions as an "intolerable provocation" and promised her government would consider retaliatory steps. Authorities in the South are concerned about her statement; North Korea blew up an empty inter-Korean liaison office on its territories last year after she responded angrily to similar propaganda leaflets sent into North Korea.
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North Korean Defector investigated over propaganda leaflets
On Thursday, police in South Korea investigated a North Korean defector for sending helium balloons over the border with hundreds of thousands of propaganda leaflets and booklets condemning Kim Jong Un, the North's leader. South Korean police searched Park Sang-Hak's office for breaking a new law that makes it illegal to carry such propaganda over the border.
Park Sang-Hak is the leader of a coalition of defectors called Fighters for a Free North Korea. For years, Park and other activists have been conducting such operations along the South Korean border.
According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police, the raid was carried out in response to Park's statement last month that his party had deployed hot air balloons carrying 500,000 leaflets, 5,000 one-dollar bills, and 500 anti-North booklets over the border. The balloons were intended to detonate over North Korean territory.
Park was the first person to be arrested for violating the current legislation, which forbids sending flying leaflets, USB drives, or money into North Korea and goes into effect in March. Violators could face a sentence of up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $27,040, Newsweek via MSN reported.
Park, dismissing concerns about the law's penalties, told reporters that he would continue to fly balloons amid the new rules. "We'll continue to send anti-North leaflets to let our ragged, hungry compatriots in North Korea know the facts, even if we get three years in prison or even 30 years in prison," he said, as per The Republic World.
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