Mick Hartley

The balloon exchanges over the demilitarised zone between the two Koreas continue. South Korea sends over propaganda leaflets – well, truth leaflets – with details about, for instance, the luxury lifestyles of the priviliged elite round Kim Jong-un, together with in-demand South Korean videos for their culturally-starved North Korean brethren, and other goodies like choco pies. The North, in turn, sends over, well…shit. Literally. Bags filled with rubbish, including human faeces. Symbolic, perhaps, of what the country has to offer. 

For the South, this is all quite annoying. For the North, though, any direct communication from the outside is a disaster. From the Daily NK:

North Korean authorities are conducting lectures warning citizens to avoid items from South Korean balloons, claiming they are contaminated with viruses. 

According to a source in South Pyongan province recently, party organizations distributed training materials about these “enemy items” to various groups in Kaechon city on Nov. 10, using them as the basis for ideological education sessions.

“Our enemies, who feel endangered by our constantly increasing political and military power, are frantically sending over vulgar and incendiary political garbage in the hope of undermining the authority of our supreme leadership. They’re floating over items smeared with life-threatening viruses,” a lecturer told those assembled at one lecture, according to the source.

The regime also addressed South Korean balloons in training materials distributed last month. “We all need to band together as we work to crush the enemy’s schemes to disseminate these things,” the training documents claimed.

Last month, North Korea spread rumors that the items in balloons might be contaminated with viruses, but this time, the regime explicitly claimed that viruses were present in an attempt to inspire vigilance in the public.

“Items in balloons are swarming with infectious diseases. Our enemies are losing their minds as they try to bring down our socialist system by spreading germs through the country,” the same lecturer said.

The training documents described enemy items as including portable memory devices (including USB flash drives and SD cards), without mentioning any other items. The regime apparently thinks acknowledging that the balloons often carry U.S. dollars, rice and “choco pie” snacks might motivate people to seek them out.

Though they may be wasting their time:

However, the regime’s claim that South Korean balloons are laden with viruses came across as ludicrous to many North Koreans.

“Nobody here actually believes those items have viruses on them. They just consider themselves lucky to stumble upon them first, when nobody is watching,” the source said.

North Koreans already know the balloons contain foreign currency, snacks and other useful items and see it as a windfall to find a balloon before anybody else does.

“Sometimes, North Koreans burn the unnecessary items found in the balloons and take the rest. Those who have tasted South Korean rice and snacks recall their delicious flavors. The anticipation of what might be inside builds whenever there is news of a balloon launch,” said the source.