South Korean officials block bid to send balloons carrying leaflets into North

A group of police officers was involved in blocking the balloon launch, Choi told reporters, adding that he would seek permission for another launch.

Authorities in Paju, the city near the site of the incident, said entry had been barred for people linked to efforts to distribute the leaflets critical of North Korea.

“If you disobey the order, we will punish you according to the law,” added its mayor, Kim Kyung-il.

Last year South Korea’s constitutional court overturned a ban on such launches of leaflets as a violation of free speech, but authorities in border areas have sought to discourage the practice.

Residents of the village near Paju, about an hour’s drive north of Seoul, also gathered to express their opposition to the planned launch.

“This is a matter of survival for us who came out here,” said Park Kyung-ho, a 53-year-old villager who was driving a tractor and urged the government to manage the risk.