Balloons carrying trash float over North Korea’s border county of Kaepung, in this photo taken from South Korea’s border city of Paju, some 30 kilometers northwest of Seoul, on Sept. 5, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s military said Friday that North Korea has sent more trash-carrying balloons toward the South since the previous night, marking the third straight day of balloon launches.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said it detected North Korea launching some 260 trash balloons from Thursday night to early Friday, with about 140 trash bundles being found in Seoul and parts of Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital.
The bundles that have been recovered largely contained paper and plastic bottles, and no hazardous substances were found, according to the JCS.
Since late May, the North has launched thousands of balloons carrying trash in retaliation against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border by North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea.
In response, the South’s military has been blasting daily anti-North Korean propaganda broadcasts through loudspeakers on the border since July 21.
North Korea has bristled against the anti-Pyongyang leaflet and loudspeaker campaigns on fears that an influx of outside information could pose a threat to the Kim Jong-un regime.
(Yonhap)
