Information Balloons Dropped Over North Korea

Amanda Casanova | ChristianHeadlines.com Contributor | Updated: Jan 17, 2014

Information Balloons Dropped Over North Korea

Fourteen balloons filled with U.S. $1 bills, pamphlets about democracy and USBs holding Wikipedia data flew over North Korea this week.

The effort came from the Human Rights Foundation and the Fighters for a Free North Korea to try and “break the regime’s information monopoly.”

According to a press release from the foundation, fourteen 20-foot balloons are expected to land in North Korea after a timer breaks open the bags. The organization is tracking the balloons.

“These balloons are an information lifeline to ordinary North Koreans, who have no means to learn about the world beyond the lies of their government,” Human Rights Foundation President Thor Halvorssen said in the statement.

He continued, “The international community often focuses on how little we know about life inside North Korea — but the real story is that North Koreans know little to nothing about the world we live in. Most are unaware that there is an alternative to repressive tyranny. We are helping to change that.”

Last July, the organization tried to release thousands of balloons carrying pro-democracy pamphlets. The attempt was stopped by South Korean police.

"We are giving them a sense that there's a better life outside of North Korea and that they've been fooled,” Halvorssen told Wired.co.uk before the July attempt.

Publication Date: January 17, 2014.



Information Balloons Dropped Over North Korea