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SOUTH KOREA’S parliament today approved contentious legislation criminalising the flying of leaflets by balloon toward North Korea.
The legislation passed with the support of 187 lawmakers, mostly governing party members who support President Moon Jae In’s policy of engagement with North Korea.
Activists and defectors from North Korea have for years used huge helium-filled balloons to carry leaflets criticising North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme and human rights record, USB sticks with information about world news and US dollars.
Under the legislation, anyone flying leaflets, auxiliary storage devices or money toward North Korea without government permission can be punished by up to three years in prison or a fine of 30 million won (£22,490).
The same penalty can also be applied to blaring loudspeaker broadcasts or placement of giant billboards at border areas.
Mr Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to halt cold war-style psychological warfare and lower animosities when they met in April 2018 at the start of now stalled global diplomacy on North Korea’s nuclear programme.
