Members of a North Korean defectors' group hold balloons containing anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets before letting them loose at Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, April 29, 2016, when they sent some 300,000 leaflets to call on the North to stop its nuclear and missile development programs. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

The Constitutional Court's recent ruling that a ban on sending anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets to North Korea was unconstitutional has opened the door for activists to start, once again, distributing the flyers without fear of legal consequences.

The ruling, issued on Sept. 26, nullified the anti-leaflet ban introduced in December 2020 as a revision to the Development of Inter-Korean Relations Act during the previous liberal Moon Jae-in government.

That law had prohibited human rights activists ― primarily North Korean defectors and religious groups ― from launching large helium balloons into North Korea, carrying leaflets criticizing its leader Kim Jong-un over his nuclear ambitions and ongoing human rights violations. The balloons sometimes carried food, daily necessities or even medicine during the coronavirus pandemic.

The liberal administration at the time, had justified the ban on the grounds that such actions would provoke the North into hostile acts and thus endanger the safety of residents in border towns.

Nearly three years after North Korean activists challenged the anti-leaflet law at the Constitutional Court, the law was struck down. The court judged that the ban excessively restricted freedom of speech.

Hong Min, a senior researcher at the state-run Korea Institute for National Unification, thinks that the constitutional ruling comes at a time of heightened tensions between the two Koreas.

"The ruling itself wouldn't have an immediate impact on inter-Korean relations. But now that the ban has been overturned, it places a greater responsibility on the government to prevent the issue from escalating into conflicts or military actions," he said.

Distributing anti-North Korea pamphlets may anger the Kim regime even more than before, he added.

"North Korean soldiers stationed on the border are relatively young, and the younger generations in the North are known to be less loyal to the ruling party. Kim would be highly sensitive about propaganda activities that may affect the young soldiers," Hong said.

The reclusive regime had previously reacted furiously to the leaflets. In 2020, North Korea detonated the inter-Korean liaison office in the border city of Gaeseong in response to leaflets that demonized its leader, claiming that they violated peace agreements signed by the two Koreas.

The analyst added that the North could again take provocative actions, thereby violating the Sept. 19 military agreement, referring to the inter-Korean military pact signed in 2018 to reduce military tensions.

Park Sang-hak, a North Korean defector-turned-activist who has been leading the leaflet campaign for over 15 years, hailed the Constitutional Court's ruling. The outspoken activist lamented that he had to scale down the activities for a while due to funding issues following the ban.

"After the evil law was implemented, the police obtained the list of our campaign donors, causing them to hesitate in making contributions," he told The Korea Times. "Now that the law is invalidated, I think the financial constraints will be resolved."

An activist prepares to launch balloons containing anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets at Imjingak Pavilion in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, April 29, 2016. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

However, he added that the anti-leaflet ban itself did not deter him from distributing the flyers. Just a week before the ruling, on Sept. 20, Park flew 20 balloons carrying 200,000 leaflets and 1,000 USB sticks to the North from Ganghwa Island, Incheon, west of Seoul.

Park plans to send the pamphlets again in October and resume the activity next spring since launching the balloons in the winter season is challenging.

Asked whether he has plans to discuss leafleting with the Ministry of Unification, he replied, "No. They don't do anything about the North Korean human rights issues, do they? They've never given us a penny to support our campaign."

In a statement released after the ruling, the Ministry of Unification, now under the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol government, welcomed the court decision, while assuring residents in border towns that they will be safe, citing South Korea's strong deterrence capabilities.

However, there was a subtle change in the ministry's stance. The statement did not mention that it would request activists to refrain from sending the leaflets, a message that used to be included in its previous statements regarding the leaflet campaigns.

"Our priority is to respect freedom of expression as mentioned in the Constitutional Court's ruling. Whether or not to request (the activists) to refrain from their activities, will be based on a comprehensive assessment of inter-Korean relations," a senior ministry official said in a closed-door briefing, Thursday.

In response to a query about whether this marks a shift from the ministry's earlier stance that civic groups should refrain from such campaigns, the official replied, "Yes, and the ministry will communicate with the civic groups regarding them sending leaflets in consideration of inter-Korean relations."

Lim Eul-chul, a professor of North Korean studies at Kyungnam University, viewed that the ministry's future decisions about leafleting could be influenced by political considerations.

"Of course, the ministry will urge activists to refrain from sending the leaflets during periods of heightened risks of military conflicts in the border areas. But the government may use the campaign as a part of its psychological warfare tactic regarding the North's human rights issues," he said.

（作者：汽车配件）