Balloons carrying masks, Tylenol and vitamin C pills are released to fly across the inter-Korean border into the North. / Courtesy of Fighters for a Free North Korea

A North Korean defector group said Tuesday it had sent balloons carrying masks and COVID-19 medicines across the border earlier this week to help people in the North, while the Seoul government asked activists to refrain from such campaigns as they could have a negative impact on regional stability.

Twenty balloons carrying 20,000 masks, 15,000 Tylenol pills and 30,000 vitamin C pills were released between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. Sunday from Pocheon, north of Seoul, Fighters for a Free North Korea said to the press. It remains unconfirmed whether the materials have landed in the North as intended.

The unification ministry handling inter-Korean affairs reiterated a call for refraining from such a move, calling it a violation of the Development of Inter-Korean Relations Act.

Under the ban, violators are subject to up to three years in prison or a maximum fine of 30 million won ($23,700). The North has responded angrily to activists here sending balloons mainly carrying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets and portable radios across the border.

"We fully understand the group's efforts to help North Koreans, but as the government is seeking inter-Korean healthcare cooperation, we have publicly urged them on numerous occasions to refrain (from launching), considering what will be of real help to the North Koreans," a ministry official told reporters on the customary condition of anonymity. (Yonhap)