Launching Balloons into North Korea: Propaganda Over Pyongyang

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VICE

Published on Mar 17, 2015
North and South Korea are, both legally and philosophically, in a state of war. While the guns may be silent, the conflict between the two countries has now become one of propaganda.

With the assistance of the Human Rights Foundation, North Korean defectors now in South Korea have been launching hydrogen-filled balloons across the 38th parallel — carrying both money and propaganda. In late 2014, a balloon launch sparked a brief exchange of gunfire between North and South Korean soldiers, and even more recently, Pyongyang has promised that hellfire will rain on South Korea if any copies of the controversial Hollywood comedy The Interview make it across the border.

VICE News traveled to Seoul to meet frontline soldiers in this information war — and to attend a clandestine launch of propaganda balloons into the Hermit Kingdom.