Abductees' Families Launch Balloons with Leaflets to North Korea, Vow "We Will Not Stop"

Three Large Balloons Sent Northward

For the first time in about ten days, the Association of Families of Abductees once again launched balloons carrying leaflets for North Korea from the border area.

Yonhap News Agency reported on the 9th that the Association of Families of Abductees sent three latex balloons carrying bundles of leaflets northward from the border area of Gangwon Province on the night of the 8th.

Previously, Paju City in Gyeonggi Province requested a police investigation into the Association of Families of Abductees on charges including violation of the Aviation Safety Act, after the group conducted a surprise leaflet distribution near Imjingak in recent days.

The Association of Families of Abductees is shown on the night of the 8th in the border area of Gangwon Province attaching GPS transmitters to balloons carrying bundles of leaflets for North Korea (above) and an image of the balloon location tracking results. Provided by the Association of Families of Abductees, Yonhap News Agency.

According to the Association of Families of Abductees, each bundle of leaflets attached to a helium-filled latex balloon contained about 1,000 newsletters about abducted family members. These newsletters included the faces and abduction circumstances of seven victims, such as five high school students abducted in the 1970s, the father of Choi Sungyong (the association's president), and Japanese national Yokota Megumi, along with messages urging North Korea to confirm the fate of the abductees and to repatriate them.

The group stated that the balloons were set so that the bundles of leaflets would fall after about one hour of flight. Choi Sungyong, president of the Association of Families of Abductees, said, "We attached a GPS transmitter to one of the three balloons," adding, "According to the location tracking, the balloon appears to have landed south of Geumgang County in Gangwon Province, North Korea."

He also released an image showing the path of the GPS transmitter, which appears to track its movement from north of Yanggu County in Gangwon Province to south of Geumgang County.

The Families of Abductees Association: "Leaflets Distributed on the Night of the 8th in the Border Area of Gangwon Province... Confirmed Arrival in North Korea." [Provided by the Families of Abductees Association, Yonhap News Agency]

The Association of Families of Abductees previously carried out a surprise leaflet distribution in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, in the early morning of April 27, avoiding the attention of local governments and some civic groups opposed to such actions. Eleven days later, the group moved to Gangwon Province and launched leaflets toward North Korea again.

In a phone interview with Yonhap News Agency, President Choi said, "Two mothers of the abducted high school students are still alive," and added, "I will not stop sending newsletters about our abducted family members until I can confirm my father's fate and until the two mothers can see their sons' faces."

Meanwhile, the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police Unit also plans to summon President Choi and others involved in the leaflet distribution and to charge them under the Framework Act on Disaster and Safety Management. Previously, in October of last year, Gyeonggi Province designated three border cities and counties?Paju, Yeoncheon, and Gimpo?as 'danger zones' under the Disaster and Safety Act, due to concerns over threats to residents' safety caused by the leaflet launches.