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North Korea has announced it will stop sending balloons filled with trash over the border into South Korea.
However, Pyongyang has threatened to restart the practice if anti-North Korean leaflets continue to be launched from the South. North Korean vice-minister of defense Kim Kang Il, in a statement via state media outlet KCNA, mentioned that South Korea now understands the “burden” of cleaning up after receiving 15 tons of trash via 3,500 balloons.
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— Megatron (@Megatron_ron) June 2, 2024
🇰🇵🇰🇷 Kim Jong Un has found the cheapest way to get rid of North Korea's trash
North Korea sent more than 600 balloons filled with garbage and poop to South Korea for the second time in a week. pic.twitter.com/zRhubW3Pb2
South Korea responded with a warning, stating it would take “unendurable” measures against North Korea if the balloon barrage persists, potentially including the revival of propaganda loudspeakers aimed at the North. This statement from President Yoon Suk Yeol’s office came after a National Security Council meeting, which discussed more than 700 trash-laden balloons sent over the fortified border by Pyongyang (North Korea claims this number was 3,500).
The council labeled the balloon campaign and concurrent GPS jamming as “irrational acts of provocation.” While South Korea had halted its loudspeaker broadcasts in 2018 following a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a senior official indicated that the resumption of such measures was under serious consideration.
The trash balloon retaliation by North Korea was said to be a response to defectors and activists in South Korea who sent balloons containing anti-Pyongyang leaflets and other materials across the border. The recent batch of North Korean balloons, carrying items such as cigarette butts and paper waste, was discovered across Seoul from Saturday evening to Sunday afternoon, as reported by South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.
South Korean military personnel have been actively monitoring the situation, conducting aerial reconnaissance, and retrieving the trash balloons. Local media captured footage of South Korean officers collecting the discarded items. In response to this latest provocation, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik discussed the issue with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at a conference in Singapore.
