On June 13, the North Korean leader’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, threatened military action after a recent decline in relations. Kim Yo Jong took aim at the inter-Korean liaison office in the border town of Kaesong, promising a “tragic scene” after accusing Seoul of being negligent in stopping the anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaign. She then proceeded to call the liaison

office “useless.” An action that some activists are taking is to release balloons into North Korea carrying leaflets that criticize their leadership, often provoking furious responses.

“By exercising my power authorized by the supreme leader, our party and the state, I gave an instruction to the arms of the department in charge of the affairs with [the] enemy to decisively carry out the next action,” she said in a statement carried by North Korean's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). "Before long, a tragic scene of the useless North-South joint liaison office completely collapsed would be seen.”

In response to North Korea’s anger over the leaflets, South Korea’s government promised to press charges against defector groups that have been carrying out border protests. South Korea also said they would attempt to push new laws to ban activists from flying the leaflets across the border.

By Ryan Yi / June 16, 2020