North Korea threatens to respond to anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets with 'shower of shells'

North Korea on Wednesday criticised rival South Korea for removing a law that banned private activists from sending antiPyongyang propaganda leaflets to the North insisting that such activities amount to psychological warfare and threatening to respond with a shower of shellsThe statement published by North Koreas official Korean Central News Agency was the first time state media commented on the decision by South Koreas Constitutional Court in September to invalidate a 2020 law that criminalised leafletting The decision was based on concerns that it excessively restricted free speechThe ruling came in response to a complaint filed by North Korean defector activists in the South They included Park SangHak who has been a frequent target of North Korean government anger for his yearslong campaign of flying leaflets across the border with giant balloonsNorth Korea is extremely sensitive about any outside attempt to undermine the leadership of authoritarian ruler Kim Jong Un as he maintains tight control over the countrys 26 million people while severely restricting their access to foreign newsThe law crafted by the previous liberal government in Seoul that pursued interKorean engagement was passed six months after the North expressed its frustration over the leaflets by blowing up an interKorean liaison office in the North Korean border town of Kaesong in June 2020Tensions between the Koreas are at their highest point in years as the pace of both Kims weapons tests and South Koreas combined military exercises with the United States have intensified in a titfortat cycleIn comments attributed to a political commentator the KCNA warned that the North in the current state of tensions would consider leafletting as a highlevel psychological warfare and even a preemptive attack conducted before the start of warUnder the present situation where a spark may lead to an explosion there is no guarantee that such military conflicts as in Europe and the Middle East would not break out on the Korean Peninsula the KCNA said apparently referring to Russias war on Ukraine and the violence in Israel and GazaThe agency claimed that future leafletting campaigns could trigger an unprecedented response from North Koreas military which stands ready to pour a shower of shells toward the sites where the leaflets are launched as well as the bulwark of the region of south Korean puppetsWhile North Korea often makes bizarre threats that arent carried out the comments still reflected the animosity between the rival Koreas amid a prolonged freeze in diplomacyAside from blowing up the liaison office the North in 2022 blamed its COVID19 outbreak on balloons flown from South Korea This highly questionable claim appeared to be an attempt to hold its rival responsible amid growing tensions over its nuclear weapons programmeIn 2014 North Korea also fired propaganda balloons flying toward its territory South Korea then returned fire but there were no casualtiesPark and other defectors from the North for years have used huge heliumfilled balloons to launch leaflets criticizing Kims leadership his nuclear weapons ambitions and the countrys dismal human rights record The leaflets are often packaged with US dollar bills and USB sticks containing information about world newsIn his latest launch on September 20 Park said he flew 20 balloons carrying 200000 leaflets and 1000 USB sticks from the South Korean border island of GanghwaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever