Anchor: North Korean defector groups, which had temporarily suspended anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaigns due to pressure from Seoul, attempted to launch the leaflets and DVDs of the movie "The Interview" Thursday night, but were blocked by the police. Meanwhile, another defector group successfully sent leaflets and DVDs last weekend.
Our Kim In-kyung has more.

Report: North Korean defector groups and a U.S. civic organization faced off with South Korean police near the border city of Paju on Thursday night over attempts to send anti-Pyongyang leaflets to North Korea.

Five civic groups, including Fighters for a Free North Korea and the U.S. Human Rights Foundation, had planned to send, from near the Military Demarcation Line, balloons with 200-thousand anti-Pyongyang leaflets and ten-thousand copies of the movie "The Interview," a Hollywood comedy about a fictitious plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
 
But police blocked the groups at a highway rest stop near Paju Book City out of concern that the act may provoke the North and endanger citizens living near the border. Last month, North Korea threatened to use force in response to the leaflet campaigns.
 
After an hour-long showdown with the police, President Park Sang-hak of Fighters for a Free North Korea held a press briefing and said the groups would retreat for now, but attempt the campaign at another time.
 
[Sound bite: President Park Sang-hak of Fighters for Free North Korea (Korean)]
"Just because we can't send it today doesn't mean we can't do it tomorrow or the day after."
 
Last Saturday, another defector group sent thousands of DVDs of "The Interview" and a million leaflets in balloons from Ganghwa Island near the western border.
 
During last weekend's launch and on Thursday, international media including CNN and BBC accompanied the defector groups.
 
Pressured by the South Korean government due to safety concerns for residents in the border area, defector groups said they would send the leaflets unannounced but have continued to publicize their activities through the media.
 
Amid mounting speculation over the possible deployment of the U.S.’ Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery on Korean soil, missile activity has picked up in North Korea, heightening safety concerns near the border.
 
The North fired two short-range ballistic missiles and seven surface-to-air missiles into the East Sea in March and test fired five short-range missiles toward the Yellow Sea last week.
Kim In-kyung, KBS World Radio News.