North Korean regime not happy about leaflets

North Korea doesn’t like its citizens reading leaflets from the outside world:

North Korea’s military warned Friday that tensions between the two Koreas could become “catastrophic” if South Korea keeps sending propaganda leaflets into the communist nation.

The North’s tough talk was yet another sign that relations between the rivals have turned sour since new South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February with a pledge to get tough on Pyongyang.

North Korea has since unleashed a spate of harsh rhetoric, including making threats to attack and hurling personal insults at Lee.

“If they do not want the present inter-Korean relations to lead to a catastrophic phase, they should take immediate steps to stop all forms of reckless scattering of leaflets at once,” the official Korean Central News Agency said.

[...]

But a ministry official said South Korea’s government does not fly propaganda leaflets into North Korea. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.

Still, civic groups in South Korea, including some North Korean defectors’ groups, have sent airborne leaflets, using balloons, to the North with messages condemning the regime in Pyongyang.

Among those who recently sent leaflets were a Japanese group representing the families of those believed to have been kidnapped by the North Korean regime. The video embedded in this post includes footage from a few days ago of them sending balloons with leaflets containing photos and information about the missing Japanese citizens.