I think by this time a lot of people have heard about Park Sang Hak, the North Korean defector leading the group that launches balloons filled with pro-democracy leaflets headed for North Korea. The South Korean media reports on this, but not in depth (as far as I’ve seen) and not usually with footage. I’ll point you to ROK Drop’s numerous posts on the subject if you need more background.

North Korea has warned the South Korean government against letting this happen. Look at Park’s eyes in the video. He looks like a man possesed. It’s when former North Koreans talk about life in North Korea that I become an easy convert and those eyes are another push in that direction. I was actually fairly sympathetic to the North until I read The Aquariums of Pyongyang.

From the article that accompanies the video:

But on Tuesday morning here at Paju, near the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas, Park and his compatriots ran into a bunch of South Korean activists willing to fight to keep the balloons on the ground. Park’s anti-Kim leaflets, they shouted, were a threat to peace on the Korean Peninsula.

A balloon-driven rumble broke out. Scores of police struggled to keep it from turning into a full-blown riot. Before it was over, Park kicked one of the counter-protesters squarely in the head — a blow that sounded like a bat whacking a hardball. He spat on several others who were trying to rip apart bags of leaflets. He pulled a tear-gas revolver from his jacket, and fired it into the air before police grabbed it.

Here’s footage of yesterday’s attempted ballon launch, again courtesy of Washingtonpost.com.

Meanwhile, Kim Jong-il was spotted at the zoo the other day.

Thanks to Eric for sending this my way.