South Koreans have been warned to stay away from Kim Jong Un’s trash-filled balloons, after North Korea floated 600 more through the DMZ.
Staff in protective suits were seen collecting piles of rubbish containing everything from cigarette butts to pieces of cardboard and plastic.
South Korea has called its nuclear-armed neighbor’s latest provocation “irrational” and “low-class” but, unlike the spate of recent ballistic missile launches, the junk campaign does not violate UN sanctions against the isolated regime of Kim Jong Un.
Seoul has warned of strong countermeasures unless North Korea stops balloon bombing, saying it goes against the armistice agreement that ended hostilities of the 1950-53 Korean War.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff asked the public to stay away from garbage piles, although “no dangerous substances have been found.”
Staff in protective suits were seen collecting piles of rubbish containing everything from cigarette butts to pieces of cardboard and plastic.
South Korea has called its neighbor’s latest nuclear-armed provocation “irrational” and “low-class.”
Seoul has warned of strong countermeasures unless North Korea stops balloon bombing.
Since Tuesday, Pyongyang has sent about 900 balloons south, the JCS said, adding that the latest wave began arriving Saturday night.
As of around 10 a.m. (0100 GMT) on Sunday, “approximately 600 balloons have been identified, with between 20 and 50 balloons per hour moving through the air.”
The balloons are landing in northern provinces, including the capital Seoul and the adjacent Gyeonggi area, which together are home to nearly half of South Korea’s population.
The last batch of balloons was filled with “debris such as cigarette butts, paper scraps, pieces of fabric and plastic,” JCS said.
“Our military is carrying out surveillance and reconnaissance from the balloon launch points, tracking them through aerial reconnaissance and collecting fallen debris, prioritizing public safety,” he said.
“We urge the public to avoid contact with fallen debris balloons and to report this to the nearest military unit or police station,” he added.
South Koreans have been warned to stay away from Kim Jong Un’s trash-filled balloons (pictured), after North Korea floated 600 more through the demilitarized zone.
Since Tuesday, Pyongyang has sent about 900 balloons south, the JCS said, adding that the latest wave began arriving Saturday night.
As of around 10 a.m. (0100 GMT) on Sunday, “approximately 600 balloons have been identified, with around 20 to 50 balloons per hour moving through the air.”
South Korea’s National Security Council is expected to meet today to discuss a plan to respond to the balloons by resuming loudspeaker propaganda campaigns along the border with North Korea, Yonhap reported.
In the past, South Korea has transmitted anti-Kim propaganda to the North, angering Pyongyang.
Southern activists have also floated their own balloons over the border, filled with leaflets and sometimes cash, rice or USB drives loaded with K-dramas.
Earlier this week, Pyongyang described its “sincere gifts” as retaliation for propaganda-laden balloons sent to North Korea.
“If Seoul decides to resume anti-North broadcasts through loudspeakers along the border, something Pyongyang doesn’t like as much as anti-Kim balloons, it could lead to a limited armed conflict along the border areas. like in the West Sea,” said Cheong Seong-Chang, director of Korean Peninsula strategy at the Sejong Institute.
In 2018, during a period of improving inter-Korean relations, both leaders agreed to “completely cease all hostile acts toward each other in all fields,” including the distribution of leaflets.
South Korea’s National Security Council is expected to meet today to discuss a plan to respond to the balloons by resuming loudspeaker propaganda campaigns along the border with North Korea.
Earlier this week, Pyongyang described its “sincere gifts” as retaliation for propaganda-laden balloons sent to North Korea.
Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong, one of Pyongyang’s key spokespeople, mocked South Korea for complaining about the balloons this week.
South Korea’s parliament passed a law in 2020 criminalizing sending leaflets to the North, but the law, which did not deter activists, was repealed last year as a violation of freedom of expression.
Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong, one of Pyongyang’s key spokespeople, mocked South Korea for complaining about the balloons this week, saying the North Koreans were simply exercising their freedom of speech.
The propaganda offensives of the two Koreas have at times escalated into major retaliations.
In June 2020, Pyongyang unilaterally cut all official military and political communication links with the South and blew up an inter-Korean liaison office on its side of the border.
The trash campaign comes after analysts warned that Kim is testing weapons before shipping them to Russia for use in Ukraine, and South Korea’s Defense Minister said this weekend that Pyongyang has sent around 10,000 containers of weapons to Moscow, in exchange for knowledge of Russian satellites. as.
