The Korean Peninsula is witnessing a resurgence in tension, once again due to propaganda leaflets being flown by North Korean defectors criticizing their former country for its dictatorship and abuse of human rights.

The Fighters for a Free North Korea, a civic group headed by Park Sang-hak who has spearheaded the leaflet-sending campaign in South Korea, launched 300,000 flyers tethered to balloons across the border, May 10. Park also sent 200,000 leaflets, U.S. $1 bills and USB sticks containing K-pop songs on June 6.

Within the span of about a month, the North Korean regime, traditionally sensitive to propaganda leaflets, responded by launching a total of 1,600 trash-carrying balloons on four occasions, which have been found across South Korean territory.

As a result of the tit-for-tat exchanges, inter-Korean tensions have been rising rapidly. The South Korean government, while fully suspending the inter-Korean military agreement, has resumed loudspeaker broadcasts toward the North. This decision drew a warning from Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who described it as a "prelude to a very dangerous situation."

In the wake of the renewed escalation between South and North Korea, concerns are resurfacing over the safety of residents in border areas where the leaflet-carrying balloons are launched, as the North could take retaliatory military action in these areas. In 2014, the two Koreas exchanged machine-gun fire across the border after the North apparently tried to shoot down balloons carrying leaflets critical of its regime.

On June 3, residents living near the inter-Korean border along with a network of civic groups urged the South Korean government to crack down on the act of sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets to the North.

However, despite an escalation of possible threats to its own people, the Yoon Suk Yeol administration, adopting more hawkish policies toward North Korea, seems to be sitting back, citing last year's Constitutional Court ruling that the law banning the sending of propaganda leaflets into North Korea was unconstitutional because it excessively restricted freedom of speech.

The law, enacted under the previous liberal Moon Jae-in administration, was grounded in the belief that such leafleting could provoke the North to undertake bellicose acts and put South Korean border town residents' safety at risk, although critics claimed that the law stifled freedom of expression.

The unification ministry, in charge of inter-Korean affairs, maintains the stance that it will not stop activists in South Korea from sending anti-Pyongyang leaflets to the North, citing freedom of expression.

While questions have been raised about whether the police can deter or block the leaflet operations by resorting to the Act on the Performance of Duties by Police Officers, the national police chief said, Monday, that doing so would amount to restricting the freedom of expression of the activists. The act mandates police to warn or restrain individuals from acts that are likely to cause damage to people or property.

Looking back at how previous South Korean presidents have handled the leaflet matter, conservative presidents Lee Myung-bak and Park Geun-hye, both from parties that were predecessors to President Yoon's People Power Party, also urged activists to refrain from launching leaflets and used the police to stop them.

Additionally, some legal experts point out that the government misinterpreted the Constitutional Court's decision.

Although the law criminalizing the leaflet campaign was ruled unconstitutional, the top court also acknowledged that the distribution of leaflets not only leads to the deterioration of inter-Korean relations but also threatens the safety of residents in the border area. The court added that the government would still have the ability to keep the activists in check through police monitoring and intervention.

Amid the government's lackluster response, however, it is a relief that the unification ministry, albeit belatedly, intends to hold meetings with North Korean defectors' groups dedicated to the leaflet campaigns, during which the ministry may indirectly recommend refraining from distributing the leaflets.

The writer is the politics desk editor at The Korea Times.