South Korea will take measures to counter anti-North Korea leaflet scattering that illegally involves unmanned aerial vehicles, a unification ministry official said Tuesday.
The government move comes as some activists plan to resume the controversial campaign to send anti-Pyongyang leaflets to North Korea next week. They have also said drones may be employed in the campaign meant to spread dissenting messages in the reclusive country.
“As far as I know, the act of scattering anti-North leaflets using unmanned vehicles is in violation of existing laws, including the aerial law,” the official noted on condition of anonymity.
“Regarding future leaflet spreading with unmanned drones, (the government) will deal with it in accordance with the law, in cooperation with the related government bodies,” the official noted.
Inter-Korean tension is growing over the leaflet issue with Pyongyang threatening to shoot down balloons or drones carrying such leaflets sent from the South with cannons and missiles.
The leading activist group in the campaign, Fighters for a Free North Korea, is planning to launch a leaflet campaign on March 26 to mark the fifth year since the North’s torpedoing of the South Korean Navy corvette, the Cheonan.
They are also considering a joint campaign with U.S.-based Human Rights Foundation, which uses a drone in its leaflet campaign.
Touching on the planned March 26 campaign, however, the official said the government is currently not considering any action to block the event.
Despite the North’s repeated warnings, the government has largely maintained a hands-off position, saying the issue falls under the civil right to free speech, with which the government cannot interfere. (Yonhap)
