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Continued Tensions: North Korea Sends Trash Balloons Over South Korea

  • Posted on May 29, 2024
  • News
  • By Arijit Dutta
  • 213 Views

North Korea escalated tensions by dropping around 90 balloons carrying leaflets, trash, and foul materials into South Korea, prompting warnings and concerns over safety violations.

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North Korea stepped up its verbal attacks on the South on Wednesday, flying 90 balloons carrying messages calling South Koreans ‘animals’, as well as sending over leaflets, garbage, and other ‘filth’ into two provinces of the country, officials report.

The balloons fell in the northern parts of Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces, forcing the South Korean authorities to advise people to stay indoors and avoid touching or coming into contact with any “strange objects. ” The South also issued a warning to its people, saying that the balloons contained “dirty waste and garbage. ”

The violation of the agreement was called by the Ministry of Defense of South Korea a breach of international law that poses a real danger to the lives of people. ”We strongly urge North Korea to stop such inhuman and crude behavior at once. ”

The images posted on the social media platform depicted the white balloons being tied using strings to the small plastic bags which contained common items such as used toilet paper, soil, and batteries. Yonhap news agency in South Korea stated some of the bags that were recovered had black coloration and a foul smell as if they contained feces.

The incident happened barely three days after North Korea warned that it would take severe action against South Korean activists for flying anti-Pyongyang leaflets using balloons. The two Koreas have been using the balloons to ferry propaganda materials and other items to the other side for decades now.  

South Korea banned it in 2020 after the North threatened it with a ‘tragic scene’ following the launch of its leafleting campaigns. Nonetheless, some activist groups have persisted in the launches, citing issues to do with free speech.

North Korea has for a long time been angered by the leaflets, which are politically charged and call for the regime’s overthrow, and now attacking its leader Kim Jong Un, and the human rights abuses in the country. It has protested earlier aerial drops of propaganda material through balloons as a violation of terms of engagement between the two Koreas, going to the extent of severing communication links.

Also Read: US woman ‘accused’ of identity fraud to facilitate job placement for North Koreans

North Korea stated on Sunday saying it will take ‘mounds of wastepaper and filth’ and scatter them in our south. Wednesday’s balloon drop looks to be following through on that threat as the animosity between the two longstanding enemies continues to intensify following the stalling of the nuclear talks.

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Arijit Dutta

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