South Korean President Lee Jae-myung has directed his administration to prevent launches of anti-North Korea leaflets across the border and punish those who carry them out, signaling a return to more stringent restrictions on such activities.

The president’s instructions came after an unspecified civic society organization launched leaflets toward the DPRK from the western Ganghwa Island near the inter-Korean border, the ROK presidential office said in a press release on Saturday. 

“The Lee Jae-myung administration has previously stated that the illegal distribution of propaganda leaflets to North Korea, which threatens the daily lives and safety of residents in border areas