Accessibility links

Breaking News

South Korean Activists Drop Propaganda Leaflets in North Korea


A balloon containing leaflets denouncing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is seen near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, March 26, 2016, on the sixth anniversary of the sunken naval ship Cheonan.
A balloon containing leaflets denouncing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is seen near the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas in Paju, South Korea, March 26, 2016, on the sixth anniversary of the sunken naval ship Cheonan.

South Korean activists have dropped tens of thousands of propaganda leaflets on a border city of North Korea to commemorate the sixth anniversary of the sinking of a South Korean ship in which 46 sailors were lost.

Seoul blames Pyongyang for the sinking and in return suspended trade and investment ties.

Some 50,000 leaflets floated into the city of Paju Saturday, carried by gas balloons, carrying messages condemning North Korea's tradition of absolute power centered in one family. They called on dictator Kim Jong Un to step down and stop threatening Western nations with nuclear war.

Saturday is the anniversary of the sinking of the Cheonan warship, which Seoul blames on a torpedo from a North Korean submarine.

North Korea responded by dropping leaflets on South Korea Saturday as well, criticizing South Korea's democratic government and President Park Geun-hye.

Tensions between the two Koreas rose earlier this year when North Korea conducted a nuclear test in early January, followed by a long-range rocket launch in February.

  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG