A South Korean activist says he has launched balloons carrying thousands of copies of the Hollywood film The Interview into North Korea.
The film, which depicts a fictional CIA plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, was included in the balloons along with anti-Pyongyang leaflets.
Lee Min-bok, a North Korean defector-turned activist, says he sent the balloons in four separate launches. The most recent occurred Saturday.
The North strongly opposes such launches. Last October it shot at some of the balloons, triggering a brief exchange of fire with Seoul forces.
The South Korean government has urged activists to refrain from sending the balloons, but says the launches are an act of free speech.
Some South Koreans living near the border have complained the activists are putting local residents’ lives at risk by making them potential targets.
North Korea is particularly upset at any attempts to include The Interview in the balloons, having declared the movie an "act of terror."
U.S. officials have said North Korea is responsible for a massive cyberattack against Sony Pictures, which produced the comedy film.
