Kim Yo Jong, the deputy director of North Korea’s Workers’ Party, announced on Tuesday that another batch of anti-North Korean leaflets sent from South Korea had landed near the border. She condemned the action, calling it “the dirty acts of the South Koreans that provoke and contaminate our territory.”
However, unlike her remarks on November 17, when she threatened consequences for the leaflets, Kim did not indicate any plans for retaliation this time.
In a statement released through the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), Kim Yo Jong said, “Various political propaganda leaflets and other items sent by South Korean trash have once again fallen in several areas near the southern border.” She added that “local security and defense authorities are carrying out area blockades, searches, collection, and disposal operations.”
While Kim had previously warned of a terrible price for such provocations, this statement did not include any explicit threats of retaliation. Following her earlier comments, North Korea launched trash balloons toward the South in protest.
Earlier this year, in response to anti-North Korean leaflets sent by South Korean civil groups, North Korea launched balloons carrying waste and trash toward the South on 31 separate occasions since May.