A South Korean nonprofit organization has been fined over $5,000 for failing to protect the personal information of North Korean defectors, after an employee launched a balloon toward the DPRK that carried the data of 131 defectors.

The state-run Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) imposed an administrative fine of 7 million won ($5,412) on the North Korea Development Institute (NKDI) for failing to implement adequate safeguards to protect personal information stored on an SD card recovered by ROK police in June 2022, a PIPC official told NK News on Monday.

The SD card was found in a balloon in South