North Korean propaganda leaflets featuring disparaging messages against South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and First Lady Kim Keon Hee were found on Thursday scattered on the streets of Seoul.
The leaflets, carried into the South Korean capital by balloons, reportedly featured messages accusing Yoon’s government of “failures that had left his people living in despair,” while other leaflets included messages describing the presidential couple as “immoral and mentally unstable.” Some of the propaganda pieces scattered across the presidential office compound in Seoul’s Yongsan District.
The incident marks the Pyongyang regime’s latest use of balloons against South Korea. Since May, North Korea has sent thousands of balloons carrying garbage, feces, and other refuse into South Korean territory in response to South Korean groups that occasionally send balloons with leaflets or media content into North Korean territory.
According to NK News, Thursday marked both the 30th time North Korea sent balloons into South Korea since May and the first time in years the North Korean regime is known to have sent propaganda leaflets across the border. Approximately 20 balloons carried the disparaging propaganda pieces — one of which “exploded in mid-air,” scattering its contents across the South Korean presidential complex.
“After a safety inspection, it was confirmed that the objects posed no danger or contamination risk, and they were subsequently collected,” the South Korean Presidential Security Service reportedly said.
The outlet stated that the leaflets appeared intended to provoke public resentment toward the South Korean first lady by “highlighting how much she spends on her appearance and stoking internal divisions among South Koreans.” Some observers reasoned that it is a tactic to “shift people’s attention from North Korean troops in Russia to the political impasse in Seoul.”
Experts told NK News that North Korea’s resumption of propaganda leaflet launches shows it is ramping up its psychological tactics toward the South as relations continue to spiral.
Cho Han-bum, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification, asserted to NK News that North Korea’s use of propaganda leaflets represents a “tit-for-tat response” to South Korea’s resumption of propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts across the border this summer. Cho predicted that North Korea will continue sending trash and other leaflets if Seoul does not stop the broadcasts.
“We’re seeing both governments engaged in psychological operations against each other, reminiscent of Cold War tactics,” Cho stressed.
Lee Choongkoo, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA), explained to the outlet that North Korea’s tactics “remain relatively rudimentary but have grown in sophistication.”
“Their goal is to create negative perceptions of the South Korean government,” Lee said. “It’s comparable to how false news circulates on social media. They’ve moved from sending meaningless provocations to including specific messages aimed at shaping public opinion.”
The two experts emphasized that North Korea appears to be gaining experience in balloon operations but, due to their lack of precision, they remain of limited military use.
“They’re more effective as a political tool or for causing general disruption rather than targeted strikes,” Lee said.
“Using balloons as weapons would constitute a war crime,” Cho emphasized. “North Korea understands that such an escalation would prompt immediate retaliation from South Korea.”
The Korea JoongAng Daily reported that some of the leaflets targeted first lady Kim Keon Hee, criticizing her “expensive sartorial tastes,” citing expensive jewelry allegedly worn by Kim during her visit to foreign countries. Other leaflets critical of the first lady featured captions calling her a “modern Marie Antoinette.”
The outlet reasoned that the leaflets could also be Pyongyang’s way of responding to South Korean criticism of the luxury clothing worn by North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un and his daughter.
Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
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