S. Korea urges N.K. to drop plan to send anti-Seoul leaflets

SEOUL, June 20 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government urged North Korea on Saturday to "immediately" withdraw its plan to send anti-Seoul leaflets across the border into the South, voicing regret over its decision to do so.

The unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs made the request after the North's state media said earlier in the day it was printing anti-Seoul propaganda materials in large numbers and preparing to send them across the border to the South.

"It is very regrettable that North Korea unveiled via a media outlet its plan to send massive anti-South Korea leaflets, and we demand its immediate halt," the ministry said in a statement.

"Such acts by North Korea are a clear violation of the inter-Korean agreement, a step that does not resolve wrong practices between the two Koreas but rather exacerbates them," it said.

The ministry also stressed that it does no good for inter-Korean relations or the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.

Tensions run high after Pyongyang made a series of threats against Seoul, including possible military action, in anger over what the North claimed to be the South's "connivance" at the sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets via balloons by North Korean defectors and activists.

The North has also vowed to sever ties with the South and go back to treating the neighbor like an enemy.

elly@yna.co.kr
(END)