North Korea condemned South Korea for failing to prevent its activists from sending out anti-Pyongyang leaflets borne by balloons across the demilitarized zone.

The North, through its official party newspaper, had warned on Saturday that the airborne leaflet propaganda could derail efforts to hold high-level talks with the South and irreversibly damage inter-Korean relations.

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On Saturday evening, South Korean activists set on sending out the propaganda balloons to the North wrangled with civic groups and students who were against the move.

Imjingak, the border separating the Two Koreas, was teeming with hundreds of police officers who were deployed to the area to prevent clashes between the two sides.

Hours before the balloons were to be sent to North Korea, a North Korean defector was pre-occupied readying the propaganda balloons in Seoul. 

The defector named Lee said he defected to South Korea in 2006 after seeing one of the leaflets in North Korea.

Lee said the leaflet contained information about the respective society of the two Koreas including a narration of how a defector sought refuge in Seoul.

He said he got curious and so three years later, he went to China in 1998.

Imjingak is one of the closest areas to the inter-Korean border, which is about 40 kilometres northwest of Seoul. There is a highway passing through a sign that directs travelers to North Korea's capital of Pyongyang.

Lee said it saddens him everytime he sees the highway since he still has his family and relatives living in North Korea.

Dozens of South Korean civic groups as well as students and residents in Paju city had gathered in Imjingak to prevent the activists from sending off the leaflets.

Reports said a van carrying propaganda paraphernalia such as balloons, helium tanks and leaflets was sent to the northern side of the border separating the two Koreas.

Upon the van's arrival at Imjingak, the students grabbed all the boxes containing the propaganda leaflets but left the helium tank untouched. 

A bus load of activists soon arrived but was resisted by the Paju residents. Scuffles between the two groups ensued but the police was quick to take action in separating the two groups.

TagsNorth Korea, airborne propaganda leaflets