Balloon propaganda campaigns in Korea

[1][2][3][4] The main motivations of the South Korean balloon campaigns have been a desire to support democratization and to incite a regime change in North Korea.

However, some actions by officials, like banning the use of boats in balloon launches, have greatly reduced the amount of leaflets flying into North Korea.

In December 2020, South Korean parliament passed a law criminalizing the launching of propaganda leaflets, whether in balloons or in bottles, into North Korea.

[11][12] The North Korean state had originally demanded that as a precondition for the first Inter-Korean summit in 2000, and the request was later accepted by the Kim Dae-jung administration.

[1] There was a balloon release by North Korea in July 2012 as a response to an official South Korean military leaflet campaign in the aftermath of the Yeonpyeong incident.

[14] A poll in late 2014 revealed that recent developments had turned many in South Korea against leaflet campaigns: 58 percent of respondents were against the balloon launches.

[19] On 14 December 2020, South Korea’s National Assembly passed a law that penalizes the sending of anti-North Korean material across the DMZ.

The ministry reported it would not officially ask the defectors' group to stop leaflet campaigns, citing a Constitutional Court ruling that deemed such bans unconstitutional.

They have sent, for example, U.S. dollars, instant noodles, booklets, nylon stockings and high quality socks, friendly letters, radios, as well as DVDs, USB sticks and SD cards with banned media content,[35][39][41][42][43][44] such as copies of the Korean Wikipedia.

Women constitute up to 70 percent of North Korean defectors; however, it is mainly men from relatively elite or military background who lead the balloon campaigns.

[12] However, Park Sang-hak claims that, unlike other defector groups, Fighters for a Free North Korea does not receive funding from the government—they have a couple of hundred supporters who donate five to ten U.S. dollars a month.

[12] Park Sang-hak has described their motives as trying to break the information curtain and raise the people's consciousness to encourage North Koreans in overthrowing their leaders.

However, a small group of North Korean defector activists managed to break away and launch 20,000 leaflets from the nearby town of Gimpo.

[54] Some of the failed balloon release attempts have ended in clashes with the South Korean police and activists, such as Park Sang-hak being detained in April 2015.

[32] North Korea restored its balloon leaflet campaign in July 2012 during increased peninsular tensions after the failed missile test involving Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 earlier in April.

The propaganda leaflets targeting western border areas in October 2012 praised pro-North activists and criticized the South Korean defense ministry's "anti-Pyongyang education program".

[49][71] In response to the 2016 South Korean political scandal, North Korea intensified leaflet drops supporting the removal of President Park Geun-hye.

[42] North Korea has been accused of intercepting the balloons and poisoning their contents to convince its citizens that South Koreans do not have good intentions.

[84] Several trash-filled balloons have landed near the Seoul metropolitan area, with some remaining intact while others scattered debris across the ground, prompting public safety and health concerns, particularly regarding parasites.

South Korean citizens have been advised not to touch the balloons due to the risk of contamination and to report any sightings to local authorities.

[65] The Secretariat of the Committee for Peaceful Reunification, Rodong Sinmun and the National Defense Commission have repeatedly condemned the South Korean government's policy on North Korea.

[89] The Secretariat of the Committee for Peaceful Reunification warned that provokers will be held fully accountable and that the relations of the two states would be again pushed to a catastrophe in the event that the launch would be allowed to happen.

[62] Rodong Sinmun stated in October 2014 that the South Korean government's tolerance of the balloon launches is comparable to an act of war.

[88] The South Korean police occasionally prevents balloon releases out of fear that North Korea may retaliate and endanger civilians living nearby.

[46] Chairman Kim Moo-sung of the Saenuri Party was concerned that hardline anti-North Korea activists might not be helping inter-Korean relations, after a balloon launch provoked a shoot-out across the Korean Demilitarized Zone on 10 October 2014.

[64] As a response to the criticism that the government is not doing enough to stop the balloon launches, president Park Geun-hye said that the issue would be "dealt with in a way that considers both freedom of expression and the safety of local residents".

[90] A senior official from the Unification Ministry spoke anonymously and remarked that previously they tried to stop the balloon releases, but since the Cheonan sinking, they have left the matter to the local police to solve, who intervene if there is or a threat of violence.

[93] One such launch suspected to be promoting fundraising was made on 19 January 2015 by Human Rights Foundation and Fighters for a Free North Korea.

[49] Professor Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University thinks that leaflets that can only contain a relatively short text are unlikely to convince their readers and as such are ineffective in comparison to, for instance, radio programs.

[1] Director John Feffer from Foreign Policy in Focus argues that the activists should learn from the Polish 'self-limiting revolution' (the Second Solidarity) in 1988–1989, as pushing one's own government too hard can be harmful to the cause.