Trash-filled balloons from North Korea have been found on the grounds of South Korea’s presidential office, according to officials on Wednesday. This incident adds to the growing tensions and confrontations on the Korean Peninsula. Since May, over 3,000 North Korean balloons, often filled with waste like cigarette butts, discarded batteries, and manure, have landed in South Korea. In response, South Korean officials have resumed loudspeaker broadcasts of propaganda and K-pop songs along the demilitarized zone (DMZ).
The balloons were discovered at the presidential office after South Korean authorities alerted the public about the danger of falling objects, as suspected North Korean trash balloons headed towards northern Gyeonggi province. “While monitoring trash balloons sent by North Korea in cooperation with the Joint Chiefs of Staff today, we identified trash that fell in the presidential office area in Yongsan,” the presidential security service said in a statement. An analysis by the response team found no harmful or contaminating substances.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) have advised the public not to touch fallen balloons and to report them to the authorities. “North Korea’s actions clearly violate international law and seriously threaten the safety of our citizens,” the JCS stated after a previous balloon incident. “All responsibility arising from the North Korean balloons lies entirely with North Korea, and we sternly warn North Korea to immediately stop its inhumane and low-level actions.”
Pyongyang has claimed it sends balloons south in retaliation for a South Korean civilian campaign that floats anti-North Korean propaganda balloons northward. For years, South Korean activists and North Korean defectors have sent balloons loaded with materials criticizing dictator Kim Jong Un and USB sticks containing K-pop songs and South Korean TV shows to the North, where such content is strictly prohibited.
Earlier this month, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of the North Korean leader, stated through North Korean state media that dozens of balloons and “dirty leaflets” from South Korea were found in the North near the border. She criticized the South Korean activists for not stopping what she described as a “crude and dirty play,” warning of severe consequences. “It seems that the situation we cannot overlook is coming,” Kim Yo Jong said in a stern warning published by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), adding that there would be “a gruesome and dear price” to pay, potentially changing South Korea’s “mode of counteraction” with the North.
While balloons continue to cross the border, North Korea has also criticized the military drills conducted by the United States and South Korea. This week, US Marine Corps F/A-18 and F-35B fighter jets were deployed to Suwon Air Base for joint aerial training with South Korean F-15, F-16, and FA-50 fighters. The exercises are scheduled to conclude on August 8. The US Defense Department stated that the Marine Corps jets were dispatched “to enhance their standard of readiness and lethality with our South Korean allies and joint forces.” However, KCNA criticized the joint maneuvers, describing them as part of Washington’s strategy to increase confrontation against North Korea.
Since 1953, North and South Korea have remained technically at war, as the Korean War ended with an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
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