S Korea activists drop leaflet North after missile tests

SEOUL: South Korean activists floated hundreds of thousands of leaflets across the border into North Korea on Friday, protesting Pyongyang´s recent missile testing efforts in defiance of UN sanctions.

"We launched the leaflets to protest against these provocative acts," North Korean defector-turned-activist Park Sang-Hak told AFP.

A total of 300,000 leaflets -- along with 2,000 one-dollar bills designed to encourage people to pick them up -- were floated over the heavily militarised border in packages attached to large helium balloons.

The balloon launch came a day after the North conducted what appeared to be its second failed test in a week of a powerful medium-range missile that experts warn could be operationally deployed as early as next year.

The missile -- believed to be an intermediate-range Musudan -- exploded shortly after lift-off early on Thursday, according to South Korean and US monitors.

Friday´s balloon launch was the first this month by Park´s group which has carried out nearly 20 similar exercises this year. The North´s official media has described Park as "human scum without an equal in the world", and threatened to shell areas where the launches are made from.