Fighters for a Free North Korea

Fighters for a Free North Korea (FFNK) is an organization formed in South Korea that is known for periodically launching balloons carrying human rights and pro-democracy literature, DVDs, transistor radios and USB flash drives from South Korea into North Korea. Over two million such balloons have been launched. The balloons, which generally reach their destination area after three to four hours in the air, are timed to release their materials in the Pyongyang area.

A principal method of getting news and arts from the outside world into the so-called "hermit kingdom" of North Korea has been the use of airdrops of materials that have been flown over the border by balloon. The balloons are hydrogen gas balloons that carry a wide range of materials such as transistor radios, entertainment DVDs and brochures. The materials sent are "intended to introduce North Koreans to the rest of the world". The popularity of low cost battery powered Portable DVD players in North Korea allows families to watch Chinese and South Korean programs on SD cards and USB flash drives.

According to the Wall Street Journal in 2013, supporters of the balloon campaign say that it "is one of the most effective tools for change inside North Korea, where information about the outside world is highly restricted". Critics of the campaign, reported the Journal, "oppose the move for causing inter-Korean frictions".

Some balloon drops have been interrupted by South Korean authorities. In October 2012, Park Sang-hak and his colleagues released balloons containing leaflets from Ganghwa, an island off the west coast of South Korea, shortly after being prevented by authorities from releasing them from Paju, their usual launch site, which North Korea had threatened to fire upon if the balloon release went forward.

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Wikipedia