Kim Dong-yeon: "Special Legal Police Will Deploy to Areas Expected to Receive Anti-North Pamphlets. We Will Strengthen Patrols."

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Kim Gap-dong] Gyeonggi Province Governor Kim Dong-yeon announced that in response to heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula stemming from North Korea's recent filth balloon distribution and the government's resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea, the province will take measures including special legal police patrols to ensure citizen safety.

Governor Kim held an "emergency related agency response meeting" at the provincial government on June 11, stating, "Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are escalating. Inter-agency cooperation to protect residents and citizens is urgently needed."

The meeting was attended by key officials from the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, as well as the heads of the Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Management Headquarters and the North Gyeonggi Fire and Disaster Management Headquarters, key police officials, and vice heads of cities and counties in border areas of northern Gyeonggi Province (Paju, Gimpo, Pocheon, and Yeoncheon).

Governor Kim said, "I will immediately dispatch special legal police officers to areas expected to receive anti-North pamphlets to strengthen patrols and monitoring," and emphasized, "This measure by Gyeonggi Province is not simply a response to anti-North pamphlets, but an effort to protect the safety of residents and citizens and preserve peace."

He continued, "Gyeonggi Province will firmly respond to acts that threaten peace while protecting citizen safety," and added, "If the security situation in border areas deteriorates, we will treat it as a stage of disaster risk, designate hazardous zones according to relevant laws and ordinances, and take measures including crackdowns on pamphlet distribution activities."

The meeting was convened to prepare for possible additional North Korean provocations amid the escalating tit-for-tat standoff between the North and South, including North Korea's repeated filth balloon provocations, the government's suspension of the effectiveness of the September 19 Military Agreement, and the resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea.

Topics discussed included situation analysis and methods to strengthen inter-agency cooperation, response measures related to anti-North pamphlet distribution, and each agency's cooperation on citizen safety measures in front-line areas following the resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea.

Previously, the province sent emergency disaster text messages or safety advisory messages to 13 cities and counties including Suwon on May 28 following North Korea's filth balloon incidents, and to all of Gyeonggi Province on June 2, 8, and 9. Particularly, to respond to further North Korean provocations and share information among relevant agencies, the province has been operating an emergency preparedness situation room since June 2, and held related response meetings on June 3 and 4.