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Abductee family group to suspend leaflet campaigns against North

Published: 08 Jul. 2025, 17:10

Choi Seong-ryong, head of the Families of Abductees, vows to officially suspend anti-Pyongyang leafleting campaigns during a press conference in the border city of Paju, just north of Seoul, on July 8, 2025. [YONHAP]

A South Korean civic group representing families of abductees held in North Korea said Tuesday it will suspend the distribution of anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.

Choi Seong-ryong, the head of the group, made the announcement in a joint press conference with the Paju municipal government, less than a year after the group resumed leafleting campaigns in the border city.

"I was swayed after I received a call from Unification Minister nominee Chung Dong-young, Vice Unification Minister Kim Nam-jung and [Democratic Party] Rep. Yoon Hu-duk," Choi said at the press conference held in Imjingak in Paju. "I promise to the people that we will outright halt the sending of newsletters on abducted family members starting today."

Choi also said he asked other groups involved in the leafleting campaigns to halt their activities in order to help President Lee Jae Myung establish a dialogue with the North.

Last month, Lee ordered the government to come up with measures to prevent and punish the sending of anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border to lower inter-Korean tensions.

Yonhap