NKDB's monthly briefing and discussion on North Korean human rights was held on the 27th of January. Amid an ongoing controversy on the balloons carrying leaflets to North Korea, Min-bok Lee, the initial developer of these special balloons, gave a lecture on the impact of these leaflets on North Korean human rights. Mr. Lee is the head of the group Campaign for Helping North Korea in Direct Way (cis). As a North Korean defector, he noted that seeing these leaflets back in the North served as a momentum for him to question the North Korean communist regime and consequently escape the country. Now in South Korea, it is his strong belief that informing the North Korean people about the truth will unveil the lies instilled by the isolationist North Korean government. He anticipates the truth to spread among the people and ultimately undermine the DPRK regime. Doing so by the means of sending leaflets is very effective, he asserted, because the leaflets made out of vinyl are not detected by radars, heat and sound detectors. He also stressed the importance of sending the right kind of message in the right manner. Based on his past experience in reading the leaflets as a North Korean citizen, the content of the leaflets is designed to make the North Korean people develop an independent mind and reveal the lies of their leader. Furthermore, whereas some organizations have been publicly sending the leaflet balloons which spurred public apprehension, Min-bok Lee argued that the leaflet campaigns should be humanitarian actions carried out in a peaceful manner. He expressed his concern on the distorted public image centered on the few aggressive leaflet campaigns and urged the media to make impartial reports.
NKDB's monthly briefing and discussion on North Korean human rights was held on the 27th of January. Amid an ongoing controversy on the balloons carrying leaflets to North Korea, Min-bok Lee, the initial developer of these special balloons, gave a lecture on the impact of these leaflets on North Korean human rights. Mr. Lee is the head of the group Campaign for Helping North Korea in Direct Way (cis). As a North Korean defector, he noted that seeing these leaflets back in the North served as a momentum for him to question the North Korean communist regime and consequently escape the country. Now in South Korea, it is his strong belief that informing the North Korean people about the truth will unveil the lies instilled by the isolationist North Korean government. He anticipates the truth to spread among the people and ultimately undermine the DPRK regime. Doing so by the means of sending leaflets is very effective, he asserted, because the leaflets made out of vinyl are not detected by radars, heat and sound detectors. He also stressed the importance of sending the right kind of message in the right manner. Based on his past experience in reading the leaflets as a North Korean citizen, the content of the leaflets is designed to make the North Korean people develop an independent mind and reveal the lies of their leader. Furthermore, whereas some organizations have been publicly sending the leaflet balloons which spurred public apprehension, Min-bok Lee argued that the leaflet campaigns should be humanitarian actions carried out in a peaceful manner. He expressed his concern on the distorted public image centered on the few aggressive leaflet campaigns and urged the media to make impartial reports.