North Korea to drop 12 million propaganda leaflets on South Korea, latest episode in rising tensions

South Korea on Monday urged North Korea to halt plans to drop propaganda leaflets across the rival countries’ border – the latest episode in increasing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. 

North Korea says it’s already set to drop 12 million leaflets in what would be the largest such psychological campaign against its southern rival, according to the Associated Press.

The leaflets will purportedly be transported by 3,000 balloons and other methods. 

Tensions escalated in recent weeks when North Korea said it would disconnect inter-country communication channels, apparently over South Korea civilians dropping their own leaflets across the border. 

North Korea escalated matters last week by blowing up an inter-Korean liaison office on the border. 

North Korea also will take other steps toward nullifying 2018 deals to ease tensions at the border.

“Our plan of distributing the leaflets against the enemy is an eruption of the unquenchable anger of all the people and the whole society,” the North’s official Korean Central News Agency said. “The time for retaliatory punishment is drawing near.”

South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo told lawmakers Monday that how his military respoånds to potential North Korean leafleting depends on what delivery equipment the North would use, the wire service also reported.