A South Korean civic group representing families of abductees held in North Korea officially announced Tuesday that it would halt its distribution of anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.
“We were moved after receiving direct phone calls from Unification Minister candidate Chung Dong-yong, Vice Unification Minister Kim Nam-jung and Rep. Yoon Hu-duk (of the Democratic Party of Korea),” said Choi Sung-ryong, head of the Association of the Families of Those Abducted by North Korea.
“We promise to the people that we will halt our distribution of leaflets containing information about our abducted family members.”
Choi made these remarks during a press conference at Imjingak in Paju, near the demilitarized zone separating North and South Korea.
The Lee Jae Myung administration had intensified measures to stop the launches of anti-Pyongyang leaflets, which detailed information about South Koreans abducted by the North after the 1950-53 Korean War, deeming the act “illegal.”
The leaflets included messages criticizing the North Korean regime, such as “If only Kim Jong-un disappears, our abductees will return.”
Choi expressed hope that the group’s decision would support President Lee’s efforts to “hold a summit and revive dialogue” with Pyongyang, potentially leading to the reunion of families separated by the war.
“We hope that families divided by war, (families) of war prisoners and individuals abducted by the North, could meet in Kaesong, even if the meeting is held behind closed doors,” Choi stated. “We urge the Lee Jae Myung administration to alleviate our suffering by facilitating smooth communication with our family members abducted by the North.”
The civic group, which began launching leaflets across the border in 2008, had suspended the campaign for over a decade in 2013 at the request of the then-Park Geun-hye administration. However, it resumed the campaign last October and has since distributed leaflets multiple times, despite the Unification Ministry’s calls to cease the activity.
The group attempted to officially launch the leaflets through public events in October last year and April this year but was thwarted by police and local residents. Subsequently, they resorted to unofficially sending the leaflets without government authorization in April, May, and June of this year.
Despite the government’s persistent efforts to halt the leaflet campaign, South Korean courts have consistently sided with the civic groups organizing such activities, deeming them legal.
In September 2023, the Constitutional Court ruled the anti-leaflet law unconstitutional, nullifying a provision in the Inter-Korean Relations Development Act that banned such activity. In March 2025, the Seoul High Court also rejected an injunction seeking to halt leaflet campaigns by North Korean activist groups, including one representing families of abductees.
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