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A group made up of people whose family members were abducted by North Korea and defectors from the communist country took to the high seas near the eastern maritime border, carrying 100,000 leaflets printed on plastic sheets with waterproof ink to prevent them from being damaged after falling in mountain areas or into water.
They used large balloons to fly the leaflets condemning the North's authoritarian leader, Kim Jong Il. The leaflets mentioned Kim's reported health troubles, calling for the North Korean people to rise up against the ailing dictator.
The leaflets described Kim as "the world's most devilish dictator" who is responsible for the famine and poverty in the country, according to a copy obtained by United Press International.
"The final day of your 'great' dictator is coming. The dictator has collapsed with illness," the leaflet said, urging North Korean citizens to launch struggles against the dictatorship.
The North Korean leader is believed to have suffered from a stroke and undergone brain surgery, which could weaken his iron-fist rule.
But few North Koreans inside the isolated country know about the reports on Kim's health. Ordinary North Koreans have been denied access to outside information and get news only through the state media.
North Korea has strived to block the influx of outside information that could damage the decades-long cult worship that has played a key role in keeping the troubled country afloat despite the global collapse of communism.
The South Korean activists expressed hope that the leaflets would help spread the reports of Kim's health troubles and build up dissident forces in the communist country. "We hope the leaflets will prompt a spreading desire for freedom among North Koreans,” the civic groups said in a statement.
The leaflets also contain a long list of South Koreans kidnapped into North Korea, including 436 fishermen, calling for the country to send back the abductees.
Some 500 South Korean civilians, mostly fishermen, have been kidnapped by the North since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War, according to government data. Of the abductees, seven escaped into the South. They testified that many of the abductees were still alive in the North.
More than 540 South Korean prisoners of war were also detained in the North, according to Seoul's Defense Ministry. North Korea denies holding any South Koreans against their will.
The leaflets ask for the North Koreans to provide information and whereabouts of the South Korean abductees, promising rewards.
Some leaflets also contain rice and US$1 bills or 10-yuan notes from China, an amount believed to be the average monthly wage in North Korea. Only 40,000 leaflets were sent out on Monday due to bad weather conditions. The remaining 60,000 leaflets will be floated through the western sea border sooner or later.
Choi Sung-yong, who leads the group called the Family Assembly Abducted to North Korea, vowed to send more leaflets into the North at the risk of worsening inter-Korean ties.
"South-North relations seem to be strained due to the spreading of leaflets," he said. "But we have no means but to send leaflets to resolve the abduction issue, because the North has refused to provide any information on the abductees," Choi said.
Besides Choi’s group, other activists in Seoul have sent more than 1 million leaflets into the North via balloons over the past few years, touching a nerve in the communist leadership. Some North Korean defectors said they had found the leaflets when they lived in the border area.
Earlier this month, the North urged the South to stop spreading leaflets, warning of "new military clashes."
Again on Monday, the North's military threatened to kick out South Koreans working at the industrial complex in Kaesong, just north of the border, if the South continued dropping propaganda leaflets. Some 70 South Korean firms are currently employing about 30,000 North Koreans to manufacture light industrial goods at the industrial park.
The warning was delivered at a military meeting that came at the unexpected request of the North, which has cut off official dialogue channels with Seoul since South Korea's conservative President Lee Myung-bak was inaugurated in February.
"The North's side pointed out that the spread of leaflets is on the rise and called for our side to take immediate measures to halt their distribution," Seoul's Defense Ministry said in a statement at the end of the military talks.
"In response, our side stressed we have consistently requested private groups (to refrain from flying leaflets)," it said.
A group of South Korean businesses also pleaded with the anti-North activists to stop sending leaflets into North Korea, saying it could jeopardize the Kaesong project and other cross-border economic cooperation programs.
"The spread of leaflets has worsened inter-Korean relations, raising risks for the companies operating factories in Kaesong," the group said in a statement, describing the industrial park as the only remaining "reconciliation channel."
