North Korean Defector Group That Provoked Kim Yo-jong, Distributes Leaflets to North Korea

Free North Korea Movement Alliance to Distribute Leaflets on the 25th
"73 Years Ago Kim Il-sung Invaded Namjosun"
Kim Yo-jong of North Korea Furious During Spring 2020 Distribution

The North Korean defector organization, the Free Joseon Movement Alliance, sent leaflets and medicines to North Korea to mark the outbreak of the Korean War on June 25. Earlier, Kim Yo-jong, the deputy director of the Workers' Party, strongly opposed the leaflets sent by this organization in the spring of 2020, and in June of that year, North Korea blew up the inter-Korean joint liaison office.

Park Sang-hak, the representative of the Free Joseon Movement Alliance, announced on the 26th, "On the night of the 25th at 10 p.m., we sent 200,000 leaflets, 10,000 masks, Tylenol, and booklets attached to 20 large balloons from the Gimpo area in Gyeonggi Province to the North."

Defector organization sprays leaflets and medicine toward North Korea
[Photo by Jayu Bukhan Movement Alliance]

To commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the Korean War, the balloons carried a banner with a photo of Chairman Kim Jong-un and the phrase, "73 years ago, your grandfather (Kim Il-sung) invaded South Korea, so when will you do it?" This is interpreted as pointing out Kim Jong-un's ambition for a southern invasion. The Free Joseon Movement Alliance also sent leaflets and medicines to North Korea attached to large balloons in October last year and May this year.

Previously, the Ministry of Unification canceled the establishment permit of this organization in 2020, citing that the leaflet distribution threatened the safety of residents in border areas and caused tension on the Korean Peninsula. The organization filed a lawsuit against the Minister of Unification demanding the cancellation of the disposition but lost consecutively in the first and second trials. However, the Supreme Court overturned the lower court's ruling in April and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court for a re-evaluation of legality.

Defector organization sprays leaflets and medicines toward North Korea
[Photo by Jayu Bukhan Movement Alliance]

The background for the cancellation of the Free Joseon Movement Alliance's establishment permit involved North Korea's backlash. This organization also distributed leaflets in the spring of 2020, at which time Kim Yo-jong, deputy director of the Workers' Party, strongly opposed it, saying, "Make a law (to stop leaflet distribution)." Subsequently, North Korea unilaterally blew up the inter-Korean joint liaison office in June of that year, and the so-called "Kim Yo-jong Mandate Law," a leaflet ban law, was enacted in the National Assembly.

An official from the Ministry of Unification said, "The government is continuously requesting restraint in leaflet distribution considering the sensitive inter-Korean relations."

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