S. Korea police raid activist’s office

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea police Friday raided the office of an activist whose anti-North Korea leafleting campaign has intensified tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Police said officers visited the Seoul office of Park Sang-hak to confiscate leaflets, account books and related materials. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency said he will be summoned soon for an investigation.

Park, a North Korean refugee who has launched balloons carrying propaganda leaflets toward the North for years, has been in the spotlight after North Korea abruptly used his campaign as a justification for a series of provocative steps against South Korea.

South Korean officials later demanded that police investigate Park for reportedly raising animosities with North Korea and potentially endangering people living near the border.

Authorities in Gyeonggi province, which borders North Korea, requested a separate investigation of several activist groups, including Park’s, on reports of fraud, embezzlement and other charges over their donation activities.

Park said Monday that his leafleting was aimed only at informing North Korean residents of the truth about their government and that he would keep sending balloons.

A police agency official said officers also raided the office of Park’s brother, Park Jung-oh, who has floated plastic bottles filled with rice toward North Korea across the sea boundary.