The government of Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, designated 11 inter-Korean border areas within the province as “danger zones” to stop North Korean defectors and activists from sending anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets across the border.

The 11 danger zones are located in Paju, Gimpo and Yeoncheon, Kim Sung-joong, vice governor of Gyeonggi Province, said in a media briefing Tuesday, hours after North Korea blew up roads connected to South Korea, heightening tensions across the border.

Kim said the danger zone designation has been implemented to protect the lives and safety of residents in the border areas amid the deteriorating inter-Korean relations.

The Gyeonggi provincial government has sought countermeasures against rising cross-border tensions over alleged flights of drones over Pyongyang and trash-laden balloons sent from the North. North Korea has said it is sending trash balloons across the border in response to the launch of anti-North Korea leaflets by its defectors in the South. Th
e North recently accused South Korea of sending drones to scatter anti-North leaflets over Pyongyang.

Following the designation, the provincial government can issue an administrative order to prohibit the entry into the danger zones by senders of anti-Pyongyang leaflets and police can arrest violators of the order.

Source: Yonhap News Agency