NKWD members send off fliers and supplies on balloons over the DMZ
Today, Yonhap News reported that the North Korean military personnel who were stationed near the DMZ had fired antiaircraft guns to target a fleet of balloons that were carrying thousands of flyers from a South Korean Christian missionary organization. South Korean military and police reported rounds from the North Korean weapons were found throughout the village of Yeon-Cheon, which was right outside the DMZ.
The organization in question was a Christian group called “Campaign For Helping North Korea In Direct Way” (NKDW), a movement that is led by North Korean defectors who are living in South Korea. They were an organization that focused on North Korean missions, and particularly providing North Korean people with various kinds of supplies and more importantly, information. On its website, NKWP works by a motto that goes, “Since we cannot deliver the Truth, news, and supplies to our North Korean brothers and sisters, we are a movement that seeks to send these to them through balloons and floats.”
Minbok Lee, a member of NKDW was in charge of supervising the strategy of sending fliers into North Korea with balloons. That day, it is reported that the group had sent around 23 balloons which carried approximately 1.3 million fliers.
These documents carry information regarding the reality of North Korea, how the people are being oppressed through the dictatorship of Kim Jong Un, and how their government is powerless to provide them with food and even basic human rights. There is also additional information regarding the reality of North Korea’s philosophy of Self-Reliance (“Joochae”) and that the United States is the nation that liberated Korea from Japan, not an outside invader as all North Koreans are originally taught to think. They often included an email address and phone number.
Rounds fired from North Korean border guards from antiaircraft guns were found all over the town of Yeon-cheon situated near the border and even in the border city of Paju in Gywonggido province. Military personnel reported that several rounds were found even within army bases.
When North Korea first opened fire, a siren was sounded in the village of Yeon-cheon, with an announcer telling the locals that “this is not a drill” and ordered all the villagers to evacuate into shelters. Army and police forces were there preparing for the worst to happen. Luckily, local police reported that there were absolutely no casualties.
Meanwhile, Yeon-cheon villagers are moving to sue NKWD members for sending out the fliers which was what had provoked the North Korean military. However, Sang-hak Park, an active member of NKWD announced that his organization will continue to deliver the truth to North Korean citizens.
Right now there are believed to be over 3,000 North Korean defectors living in South Korea. While many are finding it difficult to adjust to life in the capitalist South, many defectors have managed to find jobs and most importantly, have encountered the Gospel through church.
One member of NKWD who was not identified had shared his testimony on their website about how he, a Communist and evolutionary biologist, was led to accept Christ into his life. He testified how he had met a missionary shortly after leaving North Korea and heard that Christmas, the world’s largest and most well-known holiday was made to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ. After this, this defector was led to realize that Jesus Christ was not some historic figure but who was both powerful and alive. He was later led to join NKWD and sent supplies and at one point US dollars in balloons over the DMZ and into North Korea.
Right now, North Korean educators teach their citizens that Christian missionaries are literally demons, and in the past during the Korea War, American missionaries were responsible for spreading false ideologies and persecuting North Korean civilians. However, many Korean Christian leaders have expressed that North Korean defectors will be the leaders of spreading the Gospel message throughout the entire peninsula.
