SEOUL, May 29. /TASS/. Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, took a jab at Seoul by characterizing the launching of balloons carrying trash to South Korea as an act of freedom of speech, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

"The gang from the Republic of Korea cannot take away the North Korean people's fair right to 'freedom of expression,'" she said. Kim reiterated that South Korea calls sending propaganda leaflets to North Korea as a display of their "freedom" to express their opinions, while sending trash from the DPRK to South Korea is branded as a violation of international law. "This is as shameless as it gets," she noted.

"These thugs from the Republic of Korea did not see any balloons flying North but see only those flying South. Apparently, the wind’s direction determines whether it is ‘freedom of self-expression’ or [a violation of] ‘international law,’" she added. The South Korean military claimed that the North Korean balloons created a risk for the population and engaged specialists in radiation, chemical and biological protection.

The North Korean leader’s sister likened the content of South Korean leaflets with "political garbage." They criticized "the system and ideology which is sacred to the people of the DPRK," she reiterated. Kim asked the South Korean government "to show understanding" about the North Koreans exercising their right to express their opinion on the dissemination of leaflets from the Republic of Korea, because the South Korean population ‘has the right to information.’ "The riffraff from the Republic of Korea should treat the trash that our people are sending as a ‘gift from the bottom of their heart’ to the spirits of liberal democracy who are screaming about guarantees to the right to express opinions," she said. The politician cautioned that Pyongyang will give a ten-fold response to any spread of ‘South Korean garbage’ on their territory.

On May 29, South Korea’s military has discovered about 260 balloons carrying bags with trash and waste, including plastic bottles, batteries, old shoes and manure. Defectors turned activists have been sending balloons carrying propaganda materials to North Korea for years. On May 10, in addition to leaflets, they launched USB sticks containing K-Pop music videos.