Seventeen South Koreans have referred to prosecutors for allegedly floating over a thousand balloons carrying anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets and Bibles toward the DPRK last year, according to ROK police.

The South Koreans allegedly violated the Aviation Safety Act by sending 1,025 balloons from the border areas of Yeoncheon, Paju, Gimpo and Cheorwon using high-pressure gas, the Yeoncheon Police Station told NK News on Friday.

The suspects travelled in groups of three to five people across four cities, attaching packages to the balloons from Jan. 2024 to April 2025, the police said.

“Their leaflets criticized the Kim Jong Un regime’s