Bid to send anti-NK leaflets blocked

Police block cars from entering Imjingak in Paju, Gyeonggi Province where activists had planned to send balloons filled with propaganda into North Korea, Monday. The government said the move was made in response to threats by Pyongyang to attack the area if the activity was carried out. / Yonhap

The government blocked activists from sending anti-regime pamphlets into North Korea, Monday, in a bid to avoid a military clash over the activity.

Dozens of activists including North Korean defectors had planned to send 200,000 pamphlets across the border in giant balloons from the Imjingak Park near Paju. But soldiers and police blocked people from entering the park in response to threats of retaliation from Pyongyang.

The ban was placed “taking into consideration safety concerns over North Korean warnings, clashes between anti- and pro- civic groups and complaints from residents,” an official of the Gyeonggi Regional Police Agency said.

The Lee Myung-bak administration generally allows the sending of propaganda balloons. The blockade, analysts said, underscored the tense atmosphere in the run-up to the Dec. 19 elections here and as little-known North Korean leader Kim Jong-un tightens his grip on power.

Seoul appeared to err on the side of caution as rhetoric ramped up on both sides. Pyongyang three days earlier vowed to unleash a “merciless military strike” if the activists were allowed to send the pamphlets, an activity it loathes. Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin responded that Seoul would “completely destroy” the area where any attack came from.

The military deployed artillery and tank brigades as well as combat air patrols to the area, military officials said. Artillery units in the North, meanwhile, had been observed preparing for firing, they said.

Defense Ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said the military was ready to “thoroughly retaliate against the origin of the attacks…under the right of self-defense.”

The activists complained about the blockade, saying their mission was to spread truth in the North and not instigate a conflict.

“North Korea’s threat is aimed at instigating division between people in the South,” added Park Sang-hak, an organizer of the event.
The rise in tension has coincided with increased rhetoric over the border.

On Thursday, President Lee Myung-bak paid a surprise visit to Yeonpyeong Island in the West Sea, the site of a deadly inter-Korean skirmish in 2010, in a move that underscored Seoul’s bolstered posture against provocations.

Some analysts said the move could be tied to debate in the South over allegations that Lee’s predecessor, the late liberal Roh Moo-hyun, suggested during a summit with late North Korean leader Kim Jong-il that the Northern Limit Line, the de facto maritime border, be nullified.

The North, which favors liberal South Korean presidents who support engagement, has also ramped up tensions by sending several fishing boats across the disputed maritime border in recent weeks. While the boats return after warnings, the moves appear to be a test of Seoul’s nerve and a bid to divide public opinion here. Officials and analysts are concerned that the North could engage in conflict to bolster the military credentials of Kim Jong-un.

The Ministry of Unification urged the activists to refrain from such acts in consideration of inter-Korean relations and for Pyongyang to cease its threats.

The propaganda activities often erupt in clashes between the activists and civic groups here who support civic-level engagement with the North. <The Korea Times/Kim Young-jin>