Anonymous Defector Group Distributes Leaflets to North Korea... "Police Investigation Underway"

New Group Name Emerges to Evade Anti-Flyer Law
"120,000 Anti-North Korea Flyers, 3,000 USBs Sent"
Ministry of Unification: "Police Aware... Investigation Underway"

A defector organization sent large balloons containing thousands of leaflets and USBs to North Korea. It is believed that the group changed its name to avoid punishment for violating the law banning leaflets to North Korea, enacted during the Moon Jae-in administration, and the police have reportedly launched an investigation.

Kim Seong-min, CEO of Free North Korea Broadcasting, stated in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 12th, "We received a message from the defector group 'Defectors Campaigning for the Freedom of North Korea' that on the 9th, they sent 12 large balloons carrying 120,000 leaflets and 3,000 USBs to North Korea."

'Defectors Campaigning for the Freedom of North Korea' (hereafter Freedom Campaign) is a newly emerged name, not the group that previously distributed leaflets to North Korea. It appears they used a new name to conceal their identity due to the current punishment provisions under the law banning leaflets to North Korea.

According to Kim, the leaflets sent by the Freedom Campaign contained criticism of Kim Jong-un's regime's nuclear and missile development and hereditary rule, and the USBs included videos extracted from the YouTube channel of Tae Yong-ho, a People Power Party lawmaker and defector, such as "The Story of a Defector Becoming a Supreme Council Member of South Korea's Conservative Party." Additionally, it was reported that the USBs contained a video introduced by Susan Solti, chairperson of North Korea Freedom Week last year, titled "Messages of Freedom from U.S. Congress Members to North Korean Residents" in celebration of North Korea Freedom Week.

The Freedom Campaign claimed to have tracked the GPS attached to the balloons and confirmed that 11 out of the 12 balloons traveled to the Hwanghae Nam-do and Buk-do regions. The remaining one was reportedly lost near Paju City in Gyeonggi Province, and the police are currently collecting the balloons to identify the launch site.

The leaflet distribution by defector groups to North Korea comes six months after Park Sang-han's Free North Korea Movement Alliance sent balloons carrying leaflets, masks, Tylenol, and vitamin C in October last year. At that time, the leaflets contained the phrase, "Humanity condemns Kim Jong-un, who threatens to strike South Korea preemptively with nuclear missiles."

Kim Seong-min explained, "The Freedom Campaign stated that they could no longer watch North Korea's continuous provocations and sent materials condemning Kim Jong-un to the North," adding, "They plan to continue their activities under the name Freedom Campaign until the law banning leaflets to North Korea is amended."

According to the amendment to the Inter-Korean Relations Development Act, known as the law banning leaflets to North Korea, distributing leaflets near the Military Demarcation Line can result in imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won. However, the Ministry of Unification holds the position that this provision is 'unconstitutional,' and Minister of Unification Kwon Young-se also criticized the law in a foreign media interview, calling it "a very absolute oppressive law."

Meanwhile, Kim Seong-min, CEO of Free North Korea Broadcasting, is also a first-term member of the North Korean Human Rights Promotion Committee, an advisory body to the Minister of Unification established last month.

Regarding this matter, a Ministry of Unification official said, "We understand that the police are aware of the issue and are conducting an investigation."

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