Defector-activist Park Sang-hak launches a COVID-19 aid balloon carrying an anti-DPRK poster from Incheon on Sept. 4, 2022 | Image: FFNK, edited by NK News
South Korea’s unification ministry has urged human rights groups to “refrain from” sending anti-regime leaflets to North Korea, while warning Pyongyang that Seoul will respond “strongly” to threats of “retaliation” against ROK citizens.
The statement on Friday comes as a U.S. nongovernmental organization prepares to host an annual series of events on DPRK human rights called North Korea Freedom Week, which a prominent defector-activist has used as an occasion to launch balloons carrying leaflets in the past.
South Korea’s unification ministry has urged human rights groups to “refrain from” sending anti-regime leaflets to North Korea, while warning Pyongyang that Seoul will respond “strongly” to threats of “retaliation” against ROK citizens.
The statement on Friday comes as a U.S. nongovernmental organization prepares to host an annual series of events on DPRK human rights called North Korea Freedom Week, which a prominent defector-activist has used as an occasion to launch balloons carrying leaflets in the past.
Jeongmin Kim is the Lead Correspondent at NK News and Editorial Director at KOREA PRO, based in Seoul. Kim covers inter-Korean relations and North and South Korean foreign and military affairs. Kim has covered the 2022 ROK presidential election on the ground, and prior to joining NK News, she worked for the CSIS Korea Chair in Washington D.C. and Reuters news agency’s Seoul bureau. Follow her on Twitter @jeongminnkim