North Korea resumes trash balloon launches – Seoul
North Korea launched approximately 240 trash-laden balloons toward South Korea on Saturday, around ten of which landed in the neighboring country, according to South Korean media reports, citing the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
North Korea began sending trash-filled balloons toward its neighbor in late May and has sent some 3,600 inflatables since then. Pyongyang says it has resorted to such unconventional tactics in retaliation for balloons being sent to the North carrying propaganda leaflets. Seoul, in turn, responded by resuming full-scale daily propaganda broadcasts through its border loudspeakers in mid-July.
According to Yonhap News Agency, a few of the balloons made it to Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds the capital of Seoul. Local police confirmed having received two reports of trash-laden inflatables over the weekend.
The South Korean Joint Chief of Staff said that the balloons contained scraps of paper and plastic bottles, and that no hazardous substances were detected in their payload.
Saturday’s launch, which came after a pause of more than two weeks, marked the 11th time that North Korea has sent such balloons to its southern neighbor.
Last month, several garbage-laden balloons landed in the presidential office compound in Seoul, Yonhap noted.
In early June, North Korea’s deputy defense minister, Kim Kang Il announced that his country would “temporarily halt dropping trash over the border,” claiming that the campaign had achieved its goals. The official warned, however, that Pyongyang could resume launches if Seoul undertakes further hostile actions.
According to the South Korean authorities, the balloons launched in recent months have contained cigarette butts, plastic, and human waste, and some of them have been equipped with timers, apparently indicating that they were designed to pop in mid-air.
Commenting on the North’s actions in early June, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik described them as “unimaginably shameful and base for a normal country.”
Kim Yo Jong, a member of North Korea’s supreme political body, the State Affairs Commission, in turn, stated that “when you experience how unpleasant and tiring it is to be sent sticky filth, you will realize that you can’t talk about freedom of expression so easily when it comes to [leafleting] in border areas,” as quoted by North Korea’s KCNA news agency.
Tensions between the two neighbors have been running high in recent months in light of Pyongyang’s missile tests and Seoul’s joint drills with the US on the peninsula.
