Clashes erupt in S Korea border town

Clashes have broken out between activists attempting to float anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets and the residents of a border town in South Korea.

The scuffles erupted in the town of Paju, situated some 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the South Korean capital, Seoul, on Saturday when a group of hooded people seized a truck carrying balloons and leaflets.

Hundreds of riot police were deployed to the area. Security forces also encircled a bus carrying around 20 activists after local residents hurled eggs at it and shouted, “Go back. Don’t put our lives in danger!”

There was no immediate information on whether any one was injured in the clashes.

The activists had planned to release balloons carrying around 40,000 leaflets condemning the North Korean government.

The local residents in Paju fear that anti-North Korea leaflets could lead to cross-border exchanges of fire.

A small group of mostly North Korean defectors who were among the activists broke away from the crowd and launched the balloons. About 20,000 leaflets were launched from the nearby city of Gimpo after nightfall.

South Korean activists regularly launch anti-North Korean leaflets in balloons across the border, which Pyongyang sees as a provocation.

The Korean Peninsula has been locked in a cycle of escalating military rhetoric since the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953. No peace deal has been signed since then, meaning that North and South Korea remain technically at war.

MP/HJL/SS