Tensions flared on Saturday as South Korean activists attempting to launch propaganda leaflets into the North were thwarted by egg-throwing residents of a border town, following threats of retaliation from Pyongyang.
Hundreds of riot police were deployed as the dispute erupted in the town of Paju, some 40 km north of Seoul, when a dozen people with their faces hooded seized an activists’ truck carrying balloons and leaflets.
Police also surrounded a bus carrying around 20 activists after local residents hurled eggs at it, shouting “Go back. Don’t put our lives in danger!”.
With Pyongyang threatening to retaliate over the launch, local residents set up road blocks with tractors and a placard reading “Stop anti-North leaflet launch jeopardising our lives!”. — AFP
(Picture from AP shows an activist holding a defaced image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Paju on Saturday.)