North Korea has launched an estimated 1 million propaganda leaflets by balloon into South Korea amid increased tension between the rivals following the North’s recent nuclear test.
A Cold War-style standoff flared since the North’s claim on 6 January that it had tested a hydrogen bomb. South Korea resumed blasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts and K-pop songs from border loudspeakers.
North Korea quickly responded by restarting its own border broadcasts and floating the balloons over the border carrying anti-South leaflets, according to Seoul officials.
Seoul’s defense ministry said on Monday the North’s military has been sending the balloons on a near-daily basis. Spokesman Kim Min-seok said the leaflets have reached Seoul in addition to areas close to the border.
South Korean officials believe their broadcasts will affect the rigidly controlled, authoritarian country by demoralising frontline troops and residents. But there are claim in Seoul that the North Korean leaflets will have any impact on the public in South Korea.
South Korea, the US and other countries are pushing hard to get North Korea punished over the bomb test. Soon after the test, diplomats at a UN Security Council pledged to swiftly pursue new sanctions on the North. But it’s unclear whether China, the North’s last major ally and a veto-wielding permanent member of the Security Council, would cooperate on any tough sanctions that could force a change in the North.
The two Koreas share the world’s most heavily fortified border since their war in the early 1950s ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty. About 28,500 American troops are deployed in South Korea as deterrence against North Korea.
Source: North Korea drops 1m propaganda leaflets into South Korea as tensions rise