S.korea plans leaflet ban after threat by Kim’s sister

SEOUL: South Korea may ban defectors from flying anti-pyongyang leaflets into the North, officials said on Thursday, hours after leader Kim Jong Un’s sister threatened to scrap a military agreement with Seoul.

Kim Yo Jong, the influential younger sister and key adviser to the leader, issued the warning with inter-korean ties in a deep freeze despite three summits in 2018 between her brother and the South’s President Moon Jae-in, who has consistently promoted engagement with Pyongyang.

North Korean defectors and other activists have long flown balloons across the border carrying leaflets that criticise Kim over human rights abuses and his nuclear ambitions.

“The South Korean authorities will be forced to pay a dear price if they let this situation go on while making all sort of excuses,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.

Calling the defectors “human scum” and “rubbish-like mongrel dogs” who betrayed their homeland, she said it was “time to bring their owners to account” in a reference to the South Korean government.

Hours later, Seoul’s unification ministry said the government was considering legislation to ban leaflet campaigns on the grounds they caused tension at the border.

“Any act that could pose a threat to the life and property of the residents in the border area should be stopped,” said ministry spokesman Yoh Sang-key.