North Korea threatened yesterday to stage new attacks against South Korea unless Seoul ends its psychological warfare campaign, which includes sending over giant balloons that carry leaflets urging revolt.

“We officially notify that if this sort of behavior continues despite our continued warnings, our military will fire artillery in self-defense to destroy the source of this antirepublican behavior, including Imjingak,” said the statement sent yesterday to South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense.

Imjingak is a tourism pavilion located just south of Panmunjom, and South Korean activists use the site to launch balloons that transport anti-North Korea leaflets and information.

South Korea has stepped up its psychological warfare campaign in the wake of last year’s sinking of the Cheonan warship and the shelling of Yeonpyeong Island.

More than 3 million leaflets are estimated to have been dropped on the North, with some recent ones drawing parallels between the popular uprisings in the Middle East and the situation in North Korea.

The balloons have also carried clothing and daily necessities across the border.

The North’s media has not carried reports about the situation in the Middle East. The North Korean statement said that the giant balloons contained “impure” leaflets and video clips saved on flash-memory devices and DVDs, along with books and U.S. dollar bills, which are meant to disrupt “our big national holiday” - Feb. 16, the birthday of its leader Kim Jong-il.

“But the enemy is gravely mistaken if it thinks it can break down the conviction of our military and people by shaking our socialist system,” the statement said.

The North Korean representative at Panmunjom also released a statement yesterday criticizing the joint Key Resolve and Foal Eagle military drills held by South Korean and United States forces, which begin today, and warned of “turning Seoul into a sea of fire.”

The South Korean military said it increased monitoring of the inter-Korean border in response to the statements. South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told the National Assembly on Friday that there is a possibility that North Korea could attack during the joint drills.

South Korea agreed in 2004 to halt propaganda activities as part of the previous two administrations’ “Sunshine Policy.” But propaganda efforts were resumed last year in response to the North’s Cheonan and Yeonpyeong attacks.


By Christine Kim [christine.kim@joongang.co.kr]