South Korea distributed leaflets to North Korea over the 38th parallel, triggering protests.

　　　　The abuse of loudspeakers on the military demarcation line between the DPRK and the ROK once subsided, but now the leaflets floating in the air have destroyed this tranquility.

　　　　International Herald Tribune reporters Gao Haorong and Zhang Binyang originated from Pyongyang, and the once "leaflet war" over the "38th parallel" on the Korean peninsula has revived. On May 30, the head of the DPRK delegation to the inter-Korean military affairs talks protested and warned South Korea, demanding that South Korea immediately stop spreading leaflets in North Korea, or it will take full responsibility for all the consequences caused by it.

　　Time balloons broadcast leaflets

　　　　According to the DPRK, as of the end of May, some social groups and people in South Korea used balloons and other methods to scatter leaflets in North Korea near the military demarcation line. These leaflets have been found in dozens of places near the military demarcation line, such as South Yellow Sea Road, Kaicheng and gangwon, and even in the tourist area of Mount Kumgang and Kaesong Industrial Zone jointly developed by the DPRK and the ROK. What makes North Korea particularly angry is that some people in South Korea went to the vicinity of the military demarcation line with some Japanese and distributed more than 10,000 leaflets to the DPRK.

　　　　According to the Associated Press, distributors will put bibles and $1 bills in leaflets to attract North Koreans to pick them up. Some organizations in Japan will also use leaflets to find themselves in Asahi, and promise that those who provide information will receive a cash reward of $10,000. According to the Associated Press, these balloons distributing leaflets are about 5 meters long, and simple timing devices installed on the balloons can regularly distribute leaflets over the target area. The flyer is postcard-sized, waterproof and printed in Japanese and Korean.

　　On the "38th parallel"

　　　　There is a reason why North Korea is so angry. As early as June 2004, when the DPRK and the ROK held the second general-level talks, the two sides reached an agreement, stipulating that from the 15th of that month, the two sides would stop all propaganda activities near the military demarcation line, including broadcasting through loudspeakers, setting up advertising billboards, setting up TV screens, and scattering leaflets with balloons.

　　　　The two sides dismantled all propaganda tools in stages before August 15 of that year. In the past, the military demarcation line where tweeters sang, scolded and attacked each other became very quiet. This move by both sides was widely praised by the DPRK, the ROK and the international community.

　　　　However, this agreement has now been seriously undermined. In North Korea’s view, the reason why some people in South Korea dare to ignore the agreement between the two sides and spread a large number of leaflets around the military demarcation line is inseparable from the fact that the Lee Myung-bak government of South Korea, which came to power in February this year, denied the two Declarations issued by the heads of the DPRK and the ROK in 2000 and 2007 and pursued a "pragmatism" policy. North Korea believes that the South Korean government is actually the mastermind behind conniving and encouraging such actions.