South Korean locals have been urged to stay away from Kim Jong Un’s rubbish-filled balloons, after North Korea floated 600 more across the DMZ.
According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), around 900 balloons have been sent southward by Pyongyang since Tuesday, with the latest wave starting to arrive late Saturday.
By approximately 10am (0100 GMT) on Sunday, about 600 balloons had been identified, with 20 to 50 balloons per hour moving through the air.
The balloons are landing in northern provinces, including the capital Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi area, which collectively house nearly half of South Korea’s population.
Personnel in hazmat suits were observed collecting piles of rubbish, which included everything from cigarette butts to pieces of cardboard and plastic.
South Korea has labelled the latest provocation from its nuclear-armed neighbour as “irrational” and “low-class”.
However, unlike the recent spate of ballistic missile launches, this trash campaign does not violate UN sanctions on Kim Jong Un’s isolated regime.
Seoul has warned of strong countermeasures if the North does not halt the balloon bombardment, stating that it violates the armistice agreement that ended hostilities in the Korean War from 1950-53.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff called on the public to stay away from the rubbish heaps, though “no hazardous substances have been found”.
The latest batch of balloons have been full of “waste such as cigarette butts, scrap paper, fabric pieces and plastic,” JCS said.
It said: “Our military is conducting surveillance and reconnaissance from the launch points of the balloons, tracking them through aerial reconnaissance, and collecting the fallen debris, prioritising public safety.
“We urge the public to avoid contact with the fallen waste balloons and report them to the nearest military unit or police station.”
The propaganda offensives between the two Koreas have occasionally escalated into larger retaliatory actions.
In June 2020, Pyongyang unilaterally severed all official military and political communication links with the South and demolished an inter-Korean liaison office on its side of the border.
The trash campaign follows warnings from analysts that Kim is testing weapons before sending them to Russia for use in Ukraine.
South Korea’s defense minister stated this weekend that Pyongyang has now shipped about 10,000 containers of arms to Moscow in exchange for Russian satellite expertise.
Kim’s sister Kim Yo Jong – one of Pyongyang’s key spokespeople – mocked South Korea for complaining about the balloons this week, saying North Koreans were simply exercising their freedom of expression.
