Seoul, South Korea
cnn
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Next to a table strewn with soldering objects, shed wires and digital parts, Choi’s display screen tracks the air conditions and the GPS location of some unlikely parcels: giant “smart” balloons he sent floating to North Korea. Are.
From a mini rental in the South Korean capital, Choi, whom CNN is identifying under a pseudonym for her privacy and security, is one of the parties to what has become a tit-for-tat ballooning dispute between the two Koreas, leading to tensions. has increased. On the Korean Peninsula.
For several years, South Korean activists and North Korean defectors have sent balloons to the North filled with propaganda material critical of dictator Kim Jong Un and USB sticks filled with K-pop songs and South Korean television shows – all strictly prohibited. Granted, extremely independent crowd.
In response, the North Korean government has sent more than 1,000 balloons carrying garbage, waste and insects to the South since May — raising tensions as North Korea’s leader’s strong sister Kim Yo Jong called for further “trouble “Warned.
In 2020, South Korea passed a regulation criminalizing sending anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets across the border, as the former liberal government in Seoul pressed for engagement with Pyongyang.
However, many propagandists disregarded the decision even before they became sick of the court’s extreme lifestyle, according to a complaint filed by North Korean defector-turned-activists, who called the law an excessive restriction on differing pronunciations. within the south.
Choi, co-founder of the Committee for Reforming and Opening North Korea, is undoubtedly one of the North Korean defectors who have vowed to continue sending balloons to their fatherland.
The balloons assembled by Choi’s workforce from the floor of his Seoul rental are a step up from rudimentary balloons that haphazardly spill their contents after crashing or bursting.
Equipped with GPS trackers, workers can watch those monthly “smart” balloons in real time on journeys that span several kilometers continuously. The gang once tracked one of their balloons which, according to their information, went all the way to China.
The gang’s rectangular-shaped balloons are about 12 to 13 meters (about 40 to 42 feet) long, made of plastic and filled with hydrogen, Choi said. He chose the thickness of the plastic to be moderate so it could actually penetrate the air and allow some hydrogen to naturally diffuse out, which would help keep track of the balloons’ height, he said.
Sensors and mini circuits attached to the balloons help the balloons move to a certain height and a certain distance. “If the balloons float higher than 4,000 meters, the dispenser will not work properly, so we keep an extra bag of leaves to deflate the balloons when they get too high,” Choi said. “It is programmed to release hydrogen gas depending on altitude.”
Choi said, “I believe that North Korea can change when Kim Jong Un’s deification is broken and sending up these smart balloons is the way to achieve that.”
“I feel very proud that we have contributed to ending the idolatry of Kim Jong Un.”
The inventive balloons sent up by Choi’s task force carry numerous other payloads, some of which are automated.
In a single model, the balloons raise a mini, floating loudspeaker that looks like a tenting lantern, which is placed on the playground via zip ties and glue. Attached to a cushion, battery stores and a parachute, it flashes propaganda as it floats into the garden, with a message indicating: “North Korea can only survive if the Workers’ Party is abolished.”
The balloons are periodically fitted with an automatic flyer-dispensing device. They may be able to lift about 1,500 promotional leaflets – which the dispenser dispenses in a hurry with the aid of a timer and height-adjustment device.
“We devised a method of spreading leaflets over a large area spanning 50 to 300 kilometers (about 31 to 186 miles), making it very difficult for North Korean authorities to collect them all,” Choi said. “With our system, we can control falling leaves every 300 meters or every kilometre, ensuring more people can see them.”
These options allow the gangs to exercise more control over their devices than everyday balloons controlled by alternative activists. For example, the inventive balloons are designed to begin spewing leaflets at specific objects according to their wind speed and direction, Choi said — reportedly letting them be delivered inside target areas. They may be able to keep additional track of the frequency of leaflet distribution.
Time Choi buys some parts for the gadget, he uses a 3-D printer to make the rest. He credited his engineering studies at a North Korean university before his resignation to the South – and the YouTube videos and survivors of his team – with helping him design the current balloon before it was shipped to the North. Group in 2013.
And it’s not their full-time job; He works elsewhere during daytime hours, attending the nearest rental, creating 3-D-printed parts, and assembling them into a presentation for up to six hours. He said each inventive balloon costs about $700 to make.
Choi’s inspiration, he said, was his crowd still living in North Korea. And he lashed out at those in South Korea who have led activist teams to protest.
“For those who criticize our activities, it’s like saying, ‘Let’s help maintain the dictatorship in South Korea,'” he said of Seoul’s decades of authoritarianism before the South’s transition to autonomy in the eighties. Said.
The balloon controversy has led to heightened tensions between the two Koreas, which are technically at war – an armistice ended the Korean War that fragmented the peninsula in 1953 but negates the formal holiday treaty signed. Were.
Relations between the two countries significantly eased in 2017 and 2018, allowing some South Korean elements, including parts of its popular culture, to enter into the sadistic crowd.
However, the situation in North Korea has worsened in the past few years as leader Kim has increased gunfire in defiance of joint UN sanctions and diplomatic talks have failed, leading to reimposition of strict rules on the North.
Meanwhile, both countries are getting closer to their respective partners – North Korea recently signed a defense deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin and South Korea is expanding cooperation with Japan and the United States.
On Tuesday, the closer South Korea came to detecting an untouched shipment of 350 trash balloons from North Korea, the country’s military warned it would resume loudspeaker propaganda along the border — something it has not done since 2018.
In just a few years, Seoul has disabled huge audio systems to play game promotions and music around the heavily militarized border – including news experiences and OK-pop group Bulky Bang’s clash music “Bang Bang Bang.”
South Korea’s joint task force chiefs said, “Our military is prepared to immediately begin anti-North Korea propaganda broadcasts and will operate flexibly according to the strategic and operational situation.” Korea’s actions.”
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