S Korea vows to stop balloon protests

SEOUL: South Korea said yesterday it planned to push new laws to ban activists from flying anti-pyongyang leaflets over the border, after North Korea threatened to end an interkorean military agreement reached in 2018 to reduce tensions if Seoul failed to prevent the protests.

Sending balloons across the border has been a common activist tactic for years, but North Korea considers it an attack on its government.

Defectors and other activists have used balloons in recent weeks to fly leaflets criticising the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, over his nuclear ambitions and dismal human rights record.

The shift followed remarks from Kim’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, who threatened to end the military agreement.