President Lee: "We Nearly Went to War"... Raises Suspicions of Preemptive Provocation with DPRK Leaflets

[Financial News] President Lee Jae-myung stated on the 1st, regarding the recent sewage balloon launches by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), "We nearly went to war, but the great people of the Republic of Korea prevented it."
On this day, President Lee posted on X (formerly Twitter), sharing a report from The Hankyoreh titled, "DPRK's Sewage Balloon Campaign, In Fact, the ROK Military Provoked First—Even Allies Were Kept in the Dark." He pointed out, "The military even launched balloons toward the DPRK to create a pretext for martial law and start a war."
The report cited by President Lee contains testimony that, during last year's cycle of 'sewage balloon–loudspeaker broadcasts' between the two Koreas, the Defense Psychological Operations Group actually carried out a surprise leaflet launch toward the DPRK first. According to a former soldier, identified as Mr. A, after the Constitutional Court of Korea ruled the North Korean Leaflet Ban Act unconstitutional in 2023, the group sent leaflets, USBs, and radios across the border several times at night, without notifying nearby frontline units. As a result, those units repeatedly went on alert without knowing the reason. The source further claimed that these leaflet launches amounted to provocation and endangered soldiers' safety, and that the DPRK's subsequent sewage balloon launches were acts of retaliation.
In his post, President Lee warned, "If acts of insurrection hidden throughout the country are left unchecked, they will inevitably recur."
west@fnnews.com Seong Seok-woo Reporter