North Korea is sending more balloons towards South Korea that most likely contain trash, Seoul’s military said on June 24th.
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North is “again launching (suspected) garbage balloons aimed at South Korea,” adding that the balloons are currently hovering over the border.
“Citizens are advised to be careful in case of falling debris. If you find a fallen balloon, do not touch it and report it to the nearest military unit or police station,” it was added.
Pyongyang has already sent more than a thousand balloons carrying garbage to South Korea in retaliation for balloons carrying anti-regime propaganda that have appeared in North Korea.
An activist in South Korea confirmed earlier that it had launched more balloons, and Pyongyang vowed to respond.
Legally, South Korea cannot sanction activists who send balloons across the border because of a 2023 court ruling that bans it as an unjustified violation of free speech.
Activist Park Sang-hak, who defected from North Korea and has been sending anti-regime leaflets into North Korea for years, said he sent 20 balloons across the border last week containing propaganda material, as well as flash drives with K-pop and television shows.
North Korea is extremely sensitive about its people accessing South Korean pop culture content, and a United Nations (UN) report indicates that possession of large amounts of such content is punishable by death.
Relations between the two Koreas are at one of their lowest points in years, with Kim Jong Un this week hosting Russian leader Vladimir Putin and signing a mutual defense agreement that has caused trouble in Seoul.
In response, South Korea, a major arms exporter, said it would “reconsider” a long-standing policy of not supplying arms directly to Ukraine, RSE writes.
E.Dz.
