Police sent to search property of ex-N.Korean defector

Seoul, June 26 Police officers were dispatched on Friday to search the house and office here of a former North Korean defector who has been at the centre of the anti-Pyongyang leaflet campaign in South Korea.

Park Sang-hak heads Fighters for a Free North Korea, an activist group that has been leading the campaign to send anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets across the border, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The probe team of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency were, however, not let into Park's house in Songpa Ward, eastern Seoul, and were on standby in front of the house as he strongly resisted the police's search order.

"The search is part of efforts to seize materials so that we can verify if Park's activities are in breach of the law," a police officer said.

"As soon as he comes out of his house, we will carry out the search and seizure of (potential evidence)."

Defying the government's warning against the cross-border campaign, Park claimed that activists from his group sent some 500,000 leaflets carried by 20 large helium balloons over to the North on Monday night.

The campaign to scatter leaflets that carry criticism of the North Korean political system and its ruling family has recently been the major source of confrontations between Seoul and Pyongyang.

( With inputs from IANS )