Angle: ‘Good balloon’ developed by South Korean activist group to distribute leaflets towards North Korea

[ソウル １１日 ロイター] – Because the “balloon warfare” between North and South Korea heats up, a Seoul-based group is engaged on a “good balloon” that may penetrate tons of of kilometers into North Korea’s borders and ignore leaflets and loudspeakers crucial of the regime.

Members of the Korean Reform and Opening Committee, a company that goals to democratize North Korea, rented a small residence in Seoul and used a 3D printer to make white plastic packing containers and connecting components. Utilizing wires, circuit boards, and timers bought from websites in China and South Korea, they’re placing collectively a tool to manage the discharge of the balloon’s payload. Some have GPS monitoring capabilities, and each prices $1,000 to make.

The group sends balloons to North Korea below cowl of darkness a couple of times a month, from spring to fall, when the north wind blows. The purpose is to drop payloads deep into North Korean territory, together with the capital Pyongyang. Some balloons even flew so far as China.

“Our good balloons are costly, however I believe they’re 100 occasions extra highly effective than the balloons that different teams fly,” mentioned a member of the group.

The group, which has round 30 core members, is run with their very own cash and donations, however to date they haven’t disclosed particulars of their actions to the media.

North Korea lately despatched greater than 1,000 balloons to South Korea, however a lot of the balloons have been full of rubbish, together with what seemed to be animal feces.

An armistice was signed within the 1950-53 Korean Warfare, however no peace treaty was signed. On the ninth, South Korea resumed loudspeaker broadcasts to North Korea, which had been suspended since 2018, after North Korea resumed sending balloons stuffed with rubbish to South Korea.

The effectiveness of releasing balloons to North Korea is debated. It’s unimaginable to independently affirm the place the balloons landed or what the general public in North Korea thought concerning the message they have been carrying.

One other group member mentioned he was impressed by North Korea’s anger over the South Korean balloons, saying it was an indication that the balloons and their payloads have been having an affect.

This good hydrogen-filled balloon can carry as much as 7.5 kilograms of cargo.

Most balloons are geared up with a tool designed to launch 1,500 balloons, 25 at a time, considering the specified flight path and the wind and the opposite time.

This yr, a number of the balloons are additionally geared up with audio system that broadcast messages crucial to North Korean chief Kim Jong Un. In line with a technical growth member who can be a North Korean defender, a typical balloon would carry six audio system, six baggage every containing a Bible and a short-wave radio.

The speaker, which comes with a small parachute, consists of a water-resistant field, lithium-ion batteries, and an amplifier. After touchdown, North Korean songs and messages recorded in a North Korean accent will likely be performed for quarter-hour each half-hour. Battery life is 5 days.

The message says, “If we eradicate the (Korean) Employees’ Occasion, North Korea can survive. Kim Jong Un is a traitor who opposes unification.”

Technological advances over the previous two years have allowed a valve hooked up to an altimeter to stop the balloon from rising too excessive, permitting for extra steady flight, however the climate remains to be influencing and controlling the flight path.

The Korean Reform and Opening Fee estimates that there’s a 50-60% probability that the balloon will attain some extent greater than twelve kilometers north of the inter-Korean border. The concept is that that is higher than older balloons, which regularly do not fly far, go astray rapidly, and may solely drop one leaflet.

Activists say only a few teams ship balloons repeatedly from South Korea to North Korea.

The South Korean authorities used to distribute its personal leaflets to North Korea, however stopped doing so greater than 10 years in the past. In 2020, leaflet distribution was banned as a consequence of nationwide safety. Nevertheless, final September, the Constitutional Court docket banned the ban on the grounds that it violated freedom of speech, and teams started releasing balloons from South Korea extra ceaselessly.

South Korea’s Ministry of Unification has mentioned that they respect the court docket’s resolution and can take applicable measures if essential.

North Korean authorities have known as South Korean activists who distribute leaflets criticizing the regime “human scum,” and in 2020 bombed the North-South Liaison Workplace in retaliation for distribution leaflets. In 2022, he mentioned, balloons from South Korea may carry the brand new coronavirus.

Good balloons have additionally been controversial in South Korea, with some residents clashing with activist teams who say they’re threatened by the divisive balloons.

The Korean Reform and Opening Fee claims that South Korean sailors close to the border had beforehand given verbal warnings to not launch balloons. In response, the South Korean navy says it has no proper to ban balloon launches by non-public organizations.

Our code of conduct:Thomson Reuters “Ideas of Belief” New Tabopens a brand new tab