North Korea Launches Balloons Filled with Trash into South Korea
In an unusual overnight operation, North Korea launched approximately 350 balloons filled with trash, with around a hundred of them landing in South Korea, mainly in Gyeonggi Province and the capital city, Seoul, according to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The attached bags contained mostly paper waste, posing no risk to public safety, the military confirmed.
“The South Korean military is ready to immediately engage in psychological warfare,” stated the Joint Chiefs of Staff. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol condemned the balloon operation as a “despicable and irrational provocation” during a speech commemorating the start of the Korean War.
He also criticized the recent agreement between North Korea and Russia, signed by President Vladimir Putin during a state visit to Pyongyang, calling it a “blatant violation of UN Security Council resolutions.”
South Korea Suspends Military Agreement in Response
In response to North Korea's actions, South Korea has suspended a military agreement aimed at reducing tensions and has resumed broadcasting propaganda via loudspeakers along the border.
This decision follows North Korea's continued use of balloon deliveries, which they claim are retaliatory measures against propaganda balloons sent by South Korean activists.
Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and the main spokesperson for the regime, warned that if South Korea continues with leaflet launches and loudspeaker broadcasts, they would face “undoubtedly a new North Korean counteroffensive.”
Experts have expressed concern that tensions at the border could escalate quickly. Park Won-gon, a professor at Ewha Womans University, noted that if South Korea resumes loudspeaker broadcasts, a new counteroffensive from the North would likely follow.
