[Yonhap News Photo]
A US human rights activist disclosed a fresh plan Wednesday to send stealthy drones across the inter-Korean border that would drop about 1,000 USB flash drives to North Korean residents hungry for information from the outside world.
The plan was unveiled by Human Rights Foundation President Thor Halvorssen who visited Seoul this week to seek cooperation with South Korean activists including Jung Gwang-il, a North Korean defector who escaped to South Korea in 2004. It was not known when a new round of drone deliveries would begin.
Halvorssen and Jung have launched a secret project using stealthy helicopter drones to deliver SD cards and flash drives containing Western and South Korean films, TV shows, music and internet-free access to Wikipedia across the heavily fortified border. Their work was made public during a forum in Oslo in May when Jung said the drones had been delivering the contraband since early 2015.
For decades, efforts to bring outside information or entertainment into North Korea have been decidedly low tech. Radio programs made for North Koreans can get their frequencies jammed.
Balloons carrying pamphlets, SD cards and USB flash drives have been released in hopes that the wind would carry them over into North Korea. Sometimes, the balloons drift off course into the sea or back into South Korea. The bulk and size of the balloons make them fairly conspicuous and easy to track.
Floating gas-filled propaganda balloons is also risky because Pyongyang has repeatedly threatened to open fire at the sites for balloon launches. In October 2014, North Korean troops opened fire in an attempt to shoot down a set of balloons, sparking a brief exchange of fire across the border.
The drones are relatively safe and can follow a specified route and drop off their payloads in a specific area. Jung said in Oslo that he was first inspired to use the technology after reading about how Amazon was testing drone deliveries.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
