South Korea to stop people sending cross-border messages after threat from the North

Seoul, South Korea

South Korea has planned to stop people sending balloons with anti-North Korean messages across the border.

The announcement came after Kim Yo-jong -- sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un -- said recently balloon-senders were "human scum" and "mongrel dogs" who betrayed their homeland, adding it was "time to bring their owners to account," referring to the government in Seoul.

The South Korean government said it was planning legislation against the balloons.

"Actually, most of the leaflets have been found in our territory, causing environmental pollution and increasing burden on local people to get rid of them," said Ministry of Unification spokesperson Yoh Sang-key.

"Any act that could pose a threat to the life and property of those people should be stopped."

Also read | North Korea threatens to halt military agreement with the South over anti-Kim leaflets

North Korean defectors and other activists in recent weeks have used balloons to fly leaflets criticising Kim Jong Un over his nuclear ambitions and dismal human rights record across the border. But the South Korean government said the balloons caused "tension".

In the past, the balloons have also carried dollar notes, and even chocolate.

In 2014, soldiers exchanged machine gun and rifle fire after South Korean activists released anti-North Korean propaganda balloons across the Demilitarised Zone, but no casualties were reported.

(with inputs from Reuters)