South Korea to press charges against two groups for sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets

South Korean government has announced to press charges against the activist groups that have been throwing anti-Pyongyang leaflets near the de-militarised zone. South Korea abides by democratic principles to govern the nation and the plan to take action agianst defector groups could trigger debate over freedom of expression.

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said in a statement the groups violated the agreement between the leaders of the North and the South and created tension. The defectors have been floating the leaflets using hot air balloons or bottles to criticise Kim Jon Un’s regime over human rights violations and nuclear ambitions despite sanctions. 

The announcement came a day after North Korea decided to suspend all communication lines with the South saying Seoul failed to stop activists from floating 'anti-Pyongyang' leaflets. According to media reports, the decision to cut the communication lines was made by Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korea's supreme leader Kim Jong Un, along with Kim Yong Chol, a former hard-line military intelligence chief who Seoul believes was behind two attacks in 2010 that killed 50 South Koreans.

Read: North Korea Warns S Korea To Stop Defectors From Sending Leaflets Into Demilitarized Zone

'Nothing to discuss'

North’s state media KCNA had reported the suspension of communication lines, including military communication, from June 9. Quoting North Korean officials, KCNA said that the South Korean authorities connived at the hostile acts against Pyongyang while trying to dodge heavy responsibility with nasty excuses. 

“We have reached a conclusion that there is no need to sit face-to-face with the South Korean authorities and there is no issue to discuss with them, as they have only aroused our dismay," the report added.

Unification Ministry spokesperson Yoh Sang-key told reporters that the two groups created tensions between the South and North and brought danger to the lives and safety of residents living in border areas. Seoul has also been planning to bring new laws to ban defectors from flying anti-Pyongyang leaflets after North threatened to end an inter-Korean military agreement reached in 2018.

Read: North Korea Threatens To Halt Military Agreement Over Leaflets

(With agency inputs)