Balloon campaigns in Korea

Balloon campaigns in Korea include both North and South Korean propaganda leaflet campaigns through the use of balloons as a distribution method since the Korean War. There have also been a variety of other contents included with the balloons. These campaigns were originally organized by the governments and militaries of the Korean states. However, contemporarily it is mainly South Korean non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who regularly involve themselves in the balloon release events aiming at sending materials illegal in North Korea to the North Korean people.

The main motivation behind South Korea has been a desire to support democratization and incite a regime change in North Korea. However, the effectiveness of such leaflet campaigning has been debated. Furthermore, the balloon drops may have worsened tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Such launches have also been met with increasing opposition within the South Korean society recently. In contrast, the North Korean state has been mostly targeting soldiers on the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and has merely retaliated to Southern propaganda campaigns.

The official stance of both the South and North Korean governments has been against the continuing balloon drops. However, the South Korean government has been hesitant to intervene in the launches by activists due to concerns over freedom of expression. Some actions by officials, however, like banning the use of boats in balloon launches, have greatly reduced the amount of leaflets flying into North Korea. In the recent years, there have been a few cases of official leaflet droppings by both states. However, government organized psychological warfare between the Korean states largely disappeared in the aftermath of the Sunshine Policy, regardless of renewed tensions since.

History


Origins of propaganda campaign competitions on the Korean Peninsula can be traced back to the Korean War, when the United Nations forces sheltered Chinese and North Koreans with an estimated total of 2.5 billion leaflets. A historical study has estimated that the amount of leaflets was so great that it would have been enough to cover the whole peninsula under a 35 leaflets thick layer. In comparison, the North Koreans only spread 30 million leaflets during the war.

Originally, balloon drops were organized by the South Korean state until the beginning of the Sunshine Policy under the Kim Dae-jung administration. Both Koreas halted psychological warfare for years 2004–2010. In addition to balloons, this stopped radio broadcasts, billboards and loudspeakers on the DMZ. The North Korean state had originally demanded that as a precondition for the first Inter-Korean Summit in 2000, and the request was later accepted by the Kim Dae-jung administration. After the Yeonpyeong incident in 2010, the defense ministry organized balloon drops were continued in late 2010 for a time, but they have since been suspended again after having lasted for a year.

There has been a few instances of similar balloon propaganda campaigns launched by North Korea to South Korea. However, campaigns on the Korean Peninsula primarily target North Korea. The most recent known balloon release by North Korea happened in July 2012 as a response to an official South Korean military leaflet campaign in the aftermath of the Yeonpyeong incident.

In 2010, there was public support for a hard line against North Korea during increased tensions, but the support declined by 2011. A poll in late 2014 revealed that recent developments had turned many in South Korea against leaflet campaigns. 58 percent of respondents were against the balloon launches.

Balloon contents


South Korean propaganda during the Korean War was — through its extensive leafletting involving 2.5 billion leaflets — also trying to show the capitalist world's ability to outproduce its communist rivals. A study by I. H. Lee found out that bias against North Koreans in the South Korean society was prefigured in visual forms of United Nations propaganda during the Korean War. In comparison, during the Korean War, North Korean propaganda largely mirrored contemporary Soviet propaganda.

Jin-Heon Jung claims there has been little change in the contents of the leaflets themselves since the transition from military leaflets to civilian leaflets in South Korea. Historically, there has been some oversights in cultural sensitivities such as translation from South Korean orthography to North Korean orthography. For instance, North Koreans did not understand words like Hŏnggari or Ssoryŏn, as they are written in North Korea as Wengari and Rossiya, respectively. The leaflets include a mix of scandals, information and enticements. Some of them are proselytizing for born again Evangelicalism. One leaflet reportedly provocatively compared Kim Il-sung to Jesus in its message saying: "Believe Jesus Christ instead of Kim Il Sung". During the Cold War, the propaganda competition evolved to resemble a struggle between the two relatively new influences in Korea: communism and Christianity. High-ranking defector Hwang Jang-yop's actions have also been featured in the leaflets.

Balloon drops by the South Korean government historically included — in addition to the propaganda leaflets — sweets, lighters, tobacco and pornography. Today, the contents launched by non-governmental organizations include various kinds of media, in addition of other goods and essentials. They have sent, for example, U.S. dollars, nylon stockings, instant noodles, booklets, high quality socks, friendly letters, radios, and DVDs and USB sticks with banned media contents. After the Sony Pictures Entertainment hacking incident, many activists have sent copies of The Interview to North Korea. Some of these movies sent to North Korea have been cut by the activists with the most offensive parts removed. Some of the leaflets launched today are made from water-proof but light polyvinyl.

South Korean organizations involved
Recent organizations involved with the balloon campaigns include North Korean defectors' organizations, South Korean evangelical Protestants and conservatives, various organizations of other Christian denominations and United States based organizations. In the participating North Korean defectors' organizations, ex-military members are overrepresented. Women make up to 70 percent of North Korean defectors, however, it is mainly men from relatively elite or military background who lead the balloon campaigns. The defectors' organizations are the most active ones, as the two main organizations for flying leaflets to North Korea are Fighters for a Free North Korea and North Korean Christian Association.

Fighters for a Free North Korea, Campaign for Helping North Koreans in Direct Way, North Korean Christian Association and North Korean People's Liberation Front are among the active balloon releasing defectors' groups. However, Park Sang-hak claims that unlike other defector groups, Fighters for a Free North Korea does not receive funding from the government. They have a couple hundred supporters giving them five or ten U.S. dollars a month. Some of the defector activists, like the North Korean People's Liberation Front, have contacts across the Chinese border area, and smuggle media across the rivers to the North Korea.

Native South Korean NGOs involved include National Action Campaign for Freedom and Democracy in Korea, Korean Parents League, Chogabje.com, Family Association of South Korean POWs and Abductees, Cornerstone Ministries, and various others. Suzanne Scholte from Defense Forum Foundation is a chairwoman of the North Korea Freedom Coalition. North Korea Freedom Coalition is among the biggest supporters of the organizations involved. Anonymous Christian donors and overseas churches are also a noteworthy source of funding.

Park Sang-hak has described their motives as trying to break the information curtain to encourage North Koreans in overthrowing their leaders by raising consciousness of the people. The Human Rights Foundation stresses its beliefs on freedom of speech, self-determination, freedom of association, freedom of movement and democracy. In addition to hoping to topple the regime and agitating, the involved human rights organizations are advocating causes like helping refugees, doing humanitarian work for disabled people living in North Korea, proselytizing Christianity, and various others.

Role of Protestant Evangelicalism
Protestant Evangelicalism is a common contemporary denominator for the majority of NGOs involved with the balloon drops since the drops became essentially privatized. Jin-Heon Jung argues that there has been a polarization in the South Korean society since start of the Sunshine Policy. As polarization between states decreased, the ideological and political polarization inside South Korea increased. Jung notes that Evangelical church leaders have led protests against both regimes. Unlike in other Asian nations, like Japan, South Koreans did not resist Western missionaries, and as a result, Christianity became politically linked to the anti-communist movement in South Korea. The Bush administration's hard line towards North Korea, and funding for the anti-North organizations, has also had an important impact on the formation of an international human rights movement against North Korea.

There has also been a competition between the two major Broadcasting companies in South Korea during the Cold War in the messages sent to the North Korean people. These companies are the government-run Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) and the private Evangelical Protestant Far East Broadcasting Corporation.

Jin-Heon Jung points out that 80 percent of North Koreans arriving in the South Korea identify themselves as Christians. These defectors will rely on and stay in touch with churches. Many of them assume leadership positions as activists against the North Korean regime.

Types of balloons


The balloons most commonly used by the NGOs are unconventional cylinder-shaped helium or hydrogen filled 12-meter long transparent balloons. The plastic used on the balloons is sturdy double walled greenhouse plastic. They include propaganda messages written on the surface in korean script. These balloons were developed to replace blimps previously used by the South Korean government, which were no longer being produced. After the balloons have traveled far enough across the border, a timer will open the plastic bags carried by the balloons. The balloons can travel up to 200 kilometers. The maximum load for each balloon is 10 kilograms. Fighters for a Free North Korea uses approximately 500 U.S. dollars for each balloon launched. However, the balloons are considered a low-cost solution.

Fighters for a Free North Korea has considered improving their GPS capabilities to better understand their balloons' movements. The founder of Human Rights Foundation, Thor Halvorssen, has said that the group is considering using drones in future to distribute leaflets rather than only relying on balloons.

Launch sites
Imjingak's Imjin Pavilion grounds, together with the Tongil Park parking lot in the city of Paju, and the island of Ganghwa on the west coast, are common places for the anti-North Korea activists to hold protests and launch the balloons. The balloons have also been launched on boats. Launching from boats was prohibited in 2013 by the South Korean government. Park Sang-hak says that Fighters for a Free North Korea was able to send twice as many leaflets to the North Korea by using boats. In comparison, during 2014, they managed to fly only seven to eight million leaflets into North Korea.

The launches have been met with resistance from the locals living nearby. Fear has also been harmful for local tourism and business. Residents of the city of Paju living near the launch site of Imjingak tried to stop balloons from being launched in October 2014 by blocking the way with tractors. The locals were joined by left-wing activists supporting rapprochement. However, a small group of North Korean defector activists managed to break away and launch 20,000 leaflets from the nearby town of Gimpo. Launching balloons is not illegal, but the South Korean police sometimes intervenes. Some of the failed balloon release attempts have ended in clashes with the South Korean police and activists, such as Park Sang-hak in April 2015, being detained.

The Climate of Korea poses a challenge for the launches, as the winds blow east for 80 percent of the year and only occasionally blow from south to the north. There has been a case of the leaflets falling over Seoul due to unreliable weather.

North Korean counter-campaigns
In addition to using balloons as a means of delivery, the North Koreans have also used rockets to send leaflets to the DMZ. Many of the retrieved leaflets include maps. One of the leaflets found on the DMZ included a map of Cho Dae-hum's route of defection to North Korea across the DMZ. Many North Korean leaflets during the Cold War gave instructions, in addition to maps, to help the targeted South Korean soldiers in defecting.

North Korea restored its balloon leaflet campaign in July 2012 during increased peninsular tensions after the failed missile test involving Kwangmyŏngsŏng-3 earlier in April. The propaganda leaflets targeting western border areas in October 2012 praised pro-North activists and criticized the South Korean defense ministry's "anti-Pyongyang education program". This leaflet campaign occurred after South Korea resumed their own balloon leafletting campaign after the bombardment of Yeonpyeong for the years 2010–2011. In October 2012, a total of 17,000 North Korean leaflets were found by patrolling South Korean soldiers. That was according to the South Korean defense ministry the second time in 2012 they discovered North Korean leaflets after North Korea had resumed leafletting in July.

North Korea has also been accused of intercepting the balloons and poisoning their contents like food to convince its citizens that South Koreans do not have good intentions. Organizations like North Korea Peace responded by changing the food to socks as a result.

Some of the anti-balloon drop protesters have been accused by activists of being paid counter-protesters supported and organized by the North Korean state. However, there is a genuine opposition, beyond the locals living nearby the launch sites, against the launches in the wider South Korean society. Additionally there is an estimated three to five percent support for the far-left and the Kim regime in South Korea.

North Korean government
The North Korean state routinely threatens people involved in the balloon drops. Uriminzokkiri carried a threatening message in 2013 accusing the activists of acting as human shields for the North Korean activist defectors present.

The Secretariat of the Committee for Peaceful Reunification, Rodong Sinmun and the National Defense Commission have repeatedly condemned the South Korean government's policy on North Korea. The state of North Korea holds the government of South Korea responsible for the balloon drops, and has demanded for harder actions against the activists. North Korea has also threatened with a military action. On 1 December 2012, the Secretariat issued a statement demanding then presidential candidate Park Geun-hye to terminate president Lee Myung-bak's policy and to fulfill her presidential election pledge. The Secretariat of the Committee for Peaceful Reunification warned that provokers will be held fully accountable and that the relations of the two states would be again pushed to a catastrophe in case that the launch would be allowed to happen. Rodong Sinmun stated on October 2014 that the South Korean government allowing the balloon launches is comparable to an act of war.

North Korea has reacted most seriously on the leaflets slandering the leaders of North Korea. In summer 2015 one such leaflet launch did not only carry death threats to prominent military leaders, but for Kim Jong-un and his wife Ri Sol-ju too, which provoked Committee for Peaceful Reunification to respond three days after the launch. The committee accused that leaflet campaign could not be conducted without a protection from the South Korean National Intelligence Service, Ministry of National Defense or Ministry of Unification.

South Korean government
The South Korean police occasionally prevents balloon releases out of fear that North Korea may retaliate and endanger civilians living nearby. The government has claimed that the actions of the activists are within freedom of expression, and has appealed to the activists not to commit provocations towards North Korea. Chairman Kim Moo-sung of the Saenuri Party was concerned that hardline anti-North Korea activists might not be helping inter-Korean relations, after a balloon launch provoked a shoot-out across the Korean Demilitarized Zone on 10 October 2014. As a response to the criticism that the government is not doing enough to stop the balloon launches, president Park Geun-hye said that the issue would be "dealt with in a way that considers both freedom of expression and the safety of local residents".

A senior official from the Unification ministry spoke anonymously and remarked that previously they tried to stop the balloon releases, but since the Cheonan sinking, they have left the matter to the local police to solve. The local police intervenes only in case there is violence, or a threat of it.

Effectiveness and outcomes


Multiple organizations involved in the campaigns are in competition between each other as they try to acquire financing for their actions. Ideological differences and different motivations between secular and Christian activists have also caused mutual resentment. Controversially, some organizations have been accused of lying about their leaflets reaching North Korea by a North Korean defector and Evangelical Christian Lee Min-bok, who is a leading figure together with Park Sang-Hak in the leafletting. He accused other organizations of launching balloons from Imjingak even though it would be impossible to reach North Korea's capital Pyongyang from there. He suspects that the balloons would be flying to the Sea of Japan or at best to mountains in the Kangwon province. He criticized them for trying to get media attention to increase funding. One such launch suspected to be promoting fundraising was made in 19 January 2015 by Human Rights Foundation and Fighters for a Free North Korea. Kim Hueng-kang from North Korean Intellectuals Solidarity says that the balloons are good for pressuring North Korea, even though due to the winds they tend to fall near the DMZ where there are mostly soldiers to see the leaflets. Park Sang-hak has retained confidence in the balloons as he says that hundreds of defectors have told to him about having been reached by the leaflets. Lee Min-bok has said that "[t]he balloon launch is a primitive humanitarian activity for human rights, which opens eyes, ears and mouths of North Korean people that have been closed by the North Korean regime". Lee Min-bok also downplayed the chance of war breaking out as a result of the balloon launches.

The Christian organizations have also had their motives questioned. The Christian activists have been accused of being more interested in proselytizing than actually saving people. For instance, a balloon landing on the roof of a farmer's house could bring trouble to the family. Furthermore, Christian literature is an especially dangerous material to have in North Korea. Korean American missionary Douglas Shin has said that Christians have picked up a banner to help North Koreans, and that "some people don't like using the word crusade, but that's exactly what this is — a crusade to liberate North Korea". South Korean and U.S. officials and analysts agree that the effects of missionary work are difficult to assess. Furthermore, they say that changing North Korea through religion is very difficult.

Jin-Heon Jung reports that a North Korean ex-intelligence agent, Lee Min-bok, told that soldiers indeed liked to see South Korean naked pictures, however, they saw it as a sign that the South Korean capitalist society was a completely rotten one. Another North Korean having served as a soldier recalled that he felt disgusted by the pictures. Other ex-soldiers like Lim Young-sun, who runs the online television channel Unification Broadcasting showing North Korean propaganda to help understanding the culture of the North, have stated that the leaflets and contents like candy dropped on the North Korean soil actually calmed their initial hostility towards the South Koreans.

Professor Jung Hoon Lee from Yonsei University is not convinced that an organization such as North Korean People's Liberation Front is able to truly destabilize the North Korean regime, whatever methods they used, as they would have challenges trying to infiltrate North Korean society and posing as an alternative to the regime.

Professor Lee Woo-young of University of North Korean Studies questions how it would be possible to demand North Korea to stop its hostile actions, as sending leaflets across the border is a violation of the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement from 1992. In the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement, both governments agreed to stop hostile actions against each other.

Suzanne Scholte of the Defense Forum Foundation, an organization working mainly for Sub-Saharan self-determination and North Korean human rights, has called the balloons "nuclear missile[s] of truth and hope for North Korean people".

Director John Feffer from Foreign Policy in Focus argues that the activists should learn from the Polish 'self-limiting revolution' (the Second Solidarity) in 1988–1989, as pushing one's own government too hard can be harmful to the cause. He criticizes the activists for making maximalist claims for the smuggled information, and for refusing to compromise, as they try to reach their goals. Feffer considers the activists' actions to be harmful because they put human lives in danger, harm inter-Korean dialogue and harm the democratic legitimacy of the South Korean state.

However, the launching of balloons has provoked North Korea to threaten activists by warning that it would shell the areas with balloon launches. In October 2014, the North Korean border guards' attempt to shoot down some of the balloons lead to a firefight due to North Korean shots landing near a South Korean military base and a residential area. A North Korean spy was arrested in 2011 and accused of trying to assassinate balloon campaign activist Park Sang-hak. In 2014, a North Korean agent posing as a defector was arrested for reportedly attempting to assassinate Choi Jung-hoon, another activist involved in the balloon drops and commander of the North Korean People's Liberation Front. Jin-Heon Jung points out that the DMZ has become more militarized in recent years. The balloons may contribute to decay of remaining cooperation between the Korean governments. The activists have been blamed for eagerly trying to destroy any cooperation between the governments.