DPRK warns of shelling at ROK balloons carrying leaflets

PYONGYANG -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) warned Sunday that its military will blow up balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets which are reportedly to be flown by civic groups in the Republic of Korea (ROK), the state media KCNA reported.

The ROK civic groups announced a plan to float anti-DPRK leaflets across the inter-Korean border around March 26, the fifth anniversary of the ROK's Cheonan warship sinking.

"It is the height of hostility that the ROK puppet forces still misuse the warship sinking case, which has long been branded as the unprecedented hideous conspiratorial farce, for escalating confrontation with the DPRK by linking the case with it," said a statement issued by frontline units of the Korean People's Army.

The statement said the reckless acts are aimed at deliberately escalating tension on the Korean Peninsula "where the situation has reached the brink of a war due to 'Key Resolve' and 'Foal Eagle' joint war rehearsals."

The army threatens to launch attacks "without prior warning" on the balloons involved in the move, no matter "whether the scattering operations are conducted in areas along the MDL (Military Demarcation Line) or in any point of sea or in the air, whether balloons or drones are used for those operations and whether openly or secretly."

The statement also recommended the ROK inhabitants living close to the border to evacuate in advance for their own safety in case such leaflet drops take place.

About 500,000 leaflets, denouncing the DPRK government, and some 10,000 copies of "The Interview," a film featuring a fictional plot to assassinate top DPRK leader Kim Jong Un, will reportedly be sent via hot air balloons to the DPRK across the inter-Korean land border.

The ROK  Unification Ministry spokeswoman Park Soo-jin told a press briefing that civic groups' scattering of anti-DPRK leaflets is "basically" a matter of freedom of expression that cannot be forcefully restrained because it has no legal grounds.

But the government will take necessary measures if the anti-DPRK leaflets dispersion endangers the safety of residents living near the border, while considering the guarantee of basic rights of people and the protection of people's safety in a balanced manner, Park said.