SEOUL, South Korea — Tens of thousands of North Koreans marched in anti-U.S. rallies over the weekend, pledging “merciless” revenge against “U.S. imperialists,” as the country marked the 73rd anniversary of the start of the Korean War, state media said Monday.
More than 120,000 people participated in Sunday's mass rallies in the nation's capital, North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said.
While the 1950-53 conflict was triggered by a North Korean surprise attack, the demonstrators mobilized in Pyongyang promoted their government's version of events and accused the United States of provoking the war and leaving Koreans with “wounds … that can never be healed.”
Meanwhile in South Korea, a North Korean defector-turned-activist said he flew balloons carrying some 200,000 anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets and COVID-19 medical supplies across the border Sunday night, continuing his yearslong campaigns that have often triggered angry responses from the North.
Photos sent by Park Sang-hak showed a placard with a picture of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a message that highlighted how his grandfather, Kim Il Sung, was responsible for starting the Korean War. The North has not commented on Park's latest ballooning stint.
North Korea is extremely sensitive about any outside attempt to undermine Kim's leadership and weaken his absolute control over the country's 26 million people.
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