North Korea Educates Residents That Touching Leaflets Causes 'Hand Rot'... No Propaganda Effect

Defector A: "Using Leaflets for North Korea Propaganda? Not at All"

On the night of the 22nd, a balloon for distributing leaflets to North Korea sent by a North Korean defector organization was found around 10 a.m. on the 23rd in a mountain near Magok-ri, Seo-myeon, Hongcheon-gun, Gyeonggi Province. The discovered balloon for distributing leaflets to North Korea was 2 to 3 meters in size and had a photo of North Korean State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un and his family attached. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Seulgi Kim] Amid claims by groups distributing leaflets to North Korea that "North Korean residents decide to escape after seeing the leaflets," a defector stated that "(North Korea) educates residents that 'if you touch the leaflets, your hand will rot and fall off after three years,' so the propaganda effect of the leaflets is nonexistent."

A defector, identified as Mr. A, who claimed to be a former North Korean military company commander stationed in Hwanghae Province, said in an interview with CBS's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show" on the 25th, "It was common to see leaflets scattered here and there in the hills or fields."

Defector A stated, "When leaflets fall, local residents are supposed to report them to security officers. They are taught that the moment they hold a leaflet, they will be purged as political prisoners. Although people think nothing happens when they pick them up, the leaflets are treated with chemicals, and there is talk that after three years, their hands will rot and fall off."

Mr. A added, "People can pick up the leaflets while avoiding others' eyes, but they can never openly look at them. Just being near the area causes the State Security Department to label them as political prisoners. There are claims that the leaflets can be used for propaganda, but that is absolutely not true."

He continued, "Would even one out of ten people decide to defect after seeing the leaflets? Not at all. When I was in North Korea, I completed my military service in Hwanghae Province, and my husband lived in Haeju, where we raised two sons while still living in Hwanghae Province. If you ask how far the leaflets can travel when scattered here following the wind direction, they only reach the border line?Hwanghae Province, Gangwon Province, and Kaesong," he explained.

Mr. A further explained, "They cannot go any further. North Korea is a mountainous region, and the mountains get higher as you go deeper. The leaflets absolutely cannot travel tens or hundreds of kilometers. Absolutely not. They say the leaflets fly all the way to Pyongyang? (That makes no sense.) At most, if scattered from the south, the leaflets fall right in front, in the fields near Haeju in Hwanghae Province, or on low hills nearby. Even then, they do not spread widely; they fall like shells dropping into craters, landing only in those specific spots," he added.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.