World News for Students of English

04-04-2016 15:00

Taking off into the sky, these balloons filled with anti-Pyongyang messages were launched by South Korean protesters headed to North Korea.

Three balloons carrying around 50,000 leaflets were released in the border city of Paju. The packages can be seen floating over the border amid tension following the North’s nuclear test and rocket launch.

“We sent the leaflets carrying a message denouncing Kim Jong Un’s succession and North Korea’s nuclear missile programme. The leaflets also condemn North Korea’s armed provocations against the Republic of Korea.”

Tensions have been high on the Korean Peninsula since the North conducted a nuclear test in January and a long-ranged rocket launch in February, prompting the United Nations Security Council to issue new sanctions.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has recently been making official appearances in military drills and rocket engine testings which, if genuine, could indicate that an intercontinental ballistic missile is being developed.

Difficult words: launch (to let something go up), head (to go in a direction), tension (bad relations), denounce (to criticise), succession (when a leader gets his or her position in power from the last leader), condemn (to criticise), peninsula (land almost surrounded by water), prompt (to inspire), sanction (a punishment), genuine (true).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com