Hoping to reach out to the North Korean population, South Korean activists soldiered past a government ban and successfully sent thousands of leaflets and CDs denouncing Pyongyang into North Korea—via balloons.

Similar protests in the past were met with hostility from the North but after they recently threatened to retaliate with military force, the South closed off areas near the demilitarized zone of Imjingak in efforts to block defectors from the North and other activists from sending balloons carrying 200,000 leaflets.

After hundreds of South Korean police blocked off access to the intended launch site, 10 out of the 80 protesters eluded the police and released balloons carrying half of the leaflets from Ganghwa Island, west of Seoul.

Created by Free North Korea Radio (an activists group seeking to broadcast outside news into North Korea), the leaflets consists of info regarding the differences between North and South economies and living standards, information contradicting North Korea’s history books, and some Christian messages.

Because of the North’s military threat, police also banned tourists and journalists from the area and ordered hundreds of farmers in nearby villages to bomb shelters. Rival protests also appeared as one group argued the balloon senders were trying to incite a war with the North.

Building communication networks is something we know a bit about and we can appreciate that South Korean activists are taking a similar approach to reaching out.

– Juan Frausto

(Photo credit: REUTERS, Ahn Young-joon)