About 900 balloons flown from North Korea have been found in various regions in South Korea. Source: Julia Volk, Pexels.
North Korea has been sending hundreds of balloons filled with rubbish across the border to South Korea since Tuesday.
South Korea’s military reported that 600 balloons were spotted early Sunday and contained everything from cigarette butts and plastic to cardboard and animal faeces.
The North claims that their rubbish balloon activities were done in retaliation to the South sending leaflets with anti-Pyongyang propaganda via balloons.
South Korean activists have regularly sent balloons to the North, often carrying leaflets, cash, and USB sticks with Korean dramas.
On Sunday, South Korea’s military threatened to retaliate if the North continue their balloon bombardment and other provocative acts, including allegedly sending jammed GPS navigation signals.
“We sternly warn the North to immediately stop its inhumane and low-class actions,” said Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
“The North’s actions clearly violate international laws and seriously threaten the safety of our people.”
Hours later, North Korea announced it would stop the balloon campaign against the South.
“We made the ROK [Republic of Korea] clans get enough experience of how much unpleasant they feel and how much effort is needed to remove the scattered wastepaper,” said North Korea in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
However, if the South Koreans resume the distribution of anti-DPRK (Democratic People’s Republic of Korea) leaflets, North Korea warns that they will respond by “intensively scattering wastepaper and rubbish one hundred times the amount of scattered leaflets”, proportional to the number of cases.
In the past, South Korea have used loudspeaker propaganda campaigns along the borders of the North. Observers suspect that the South might resume such acts in their retaliation.
This could lead to “limited armed conflict along border areas”, says Cheong Seong-Chang, director of the Korean Peninsula strategy at Sejong Institute.
