North Korea warns South Korea to stop defectors from scattering anti-North leaflets

The sister of North Korea's leader warned South Korea on Thursday (June 4) to stop defectors from sending leaflets into the demilitarised zone separating the countries, saying it may cancel a recent bilateral military agreement if the activity persists.

Kim Yo Jong, who serves unofficially as Kim Jong Un's chief of staff, issued the warning in a statement carried by state news agency KCNA, referring to thousands of "anti-DPRK leaflets" recently dumped along the North's side of the heavily fortified DMZ titled "Defectors from the North".

She warned of the possible scrapping of the inter-Korean military agreement that promised to eliminate practical threats of war, and a withdrawal from the Kaesong joint industrial project as a result of the clandestine leafletting.

Responding to the North Korean statement, a spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, called for a halt to the leaflet operations.

Sending leaflets increases tensions with North Korea, poses environmental risks and endangers private property, ministry spokesman Yoh Sang-key said at a regular briefing, adding that the government has taken measures to stop leafletting "several times".

Kim Yo Jong has been the most visible presence around her brother in the past two years. She serves formally as a vice director of the ruling Workers' Party's powerful Central Committee.