South Korean defectors release balloons to transfer money to North Korea

Anti-North Korea activists announced on June 6 that they had launched 10 balloons containing 200,000 leaflets, 5,000 USB sticks containing K-pop music, and thousands of $1 bills from South Korea across the border.

The group said they were North Koreans who had successfully defected to South Korea and were now "sending truth and love to their compatriots", after Pyongyang launched several balloons containing waste into South Korea.

They also previously announced that they sent balloons carrying about 2,000 USB sticks containing South Korean music and movies to North Korea on May 10.

The South Korean National Assembly passed a law in 2020 criminalizing the act of sending leaflets to North Korea, but activists have not stopped. Last year, the Constitutional Court overturned the law, saying it was an excessive restriction on people's freedom of speech.

Tensions between North and South Korea have been rising recently after Pyongyang launched nearly 1,000 balloons carrying trash across the border. North Korea called it a “sincere gift” in response to South Korea launching balloons carrying propaganda against leader Kim Jong-un.

Pyongyang has long been angered by balloons launched by South Korean activists, which carry cash, rice and USB sticks containing South Korean music and movies.

Inter-Korean relations are at their lowest point in years. The South Korean military announced on June 4 that it would resume full military operations along the border with North Korea, after suspending an inter-Korean military agreement, in response to Pyongyang’s launching of garbage balloons.