North Korea under human rights pressure
— UPI: “North Korea’s military warned on Wednesday that South Korea would face retaliation if it didn’t stop activists from sending propaganda leaflets critical of human rights conditions in the communist country.”
— “The North’s People’s Armed Forces ‘will never tolerate even the slightest act’ of undermining ‘our leadership’s absolute authority,’ the military said in a statement.”
— “It also demanded that South Korea immediately punish the activists engaged in sending leaflets across the border and disband their organizations. ‘The separatists at home and abroad will never be able to flee from a stern punishment by the nation for challenging history,’ said the statement carried by the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency.”
— “A group of South Korean activists floated balloons toward North Korea containing some 8,000 leaflets denouncing human rights abuses in the Stalinist country and calling for the release of a U.S. Christian missionary who crossed into the North as a protest against its human rights abuses.”
— ” ‘We urge an immediate release of all inmates in concentration camps in the North,” said the leaflets scattered by huge helium balloons. The North is believed to hold 150,000 to 200,000 people in political prison camps.”
— “Robert Park, a 28-year-old Korean-American from Arizona, slipped into the North in late December to call on the regime to release political prisoners, shut concentration camps and improve human rights conditions, according to his colleagues. The North has said it has detained an American for illegal entry, an apparent reference to Park.”
— “The United States is seeking information about Park through the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, which represents Washington’s interests. But the North has rejected requests for access to him.”

— Canadian Press: NKorea’s military warns SKorea to stop sending leaflets across divided border
— Canadian Press also reports: “A separate group of South Korean activists unsuccessfully tried Tuesday to send thousands of leaflets by balloon to the North to let residents know about a U.S. Christian missionary believed detained in the communist country. The balloons, however, burst before crossing the border amid strong winds blowing from North Korea.”

— NDTV: Anti-North Korea Balloon Campaign

— AFP: N.Korea warns S.Korea over cross-border leaflets