A South Korean court on Tuesday found a law banning private entities from sending leaflets or other items by balloon into North Korea unconstitutional.

In a 7-2 decision, the Constitutional Court found the Development of Inter-Korean Relations Act, promulgated in 2020 during the liberal Moon Jae-in administration, unconstitutional. Scores of North Korean human rights groups filed the complaint with the Constitutional Court immediately after the law came into effect.

After the conservative President Yoon Suk Yeol succeeded Moon, his administration's unification minister, Kwon Young-se, submitted an opinion to the court, saying the leafletting ban "infringes on freedom of expression" and “violates the principles of proportionality between responsibility and punishment.”

Under the rule, those who violate the so-called "anti-leaflet law" are subject to at most three years of imprisonment or a fine of 30 million won ($22,160) or less.