North Korea has launched additional ‘trash balloons’ toward South Korea, coinciding with the resumption of anti-Pyongyang broadcasts

North Korea has launched additional balloons, presumably carrying trash, toward South Korea on Sunday. This action occurred two days after South Korea reinstated its anti-Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts across the border, in response to the North’s ongoing balloon initiatives.

According to the Associated Press, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North Korean balloons were flying north of the South Korean capital Seoul after crossing the border. People should be aware of falling objects and alert the police and military if they see any ballons fallen on the ground, the Joint Chiefs of Staff was quoted as saying.

South Korea had previously warned of more extensive loudspeaker broadcasts and stronger measures if North Korea continued provocations like balloon launches.

In June, South Korea’s Cabinet Council and President Yoon Suk Yeol approved a proposal to suspend the 2018 inter-Korean agreement on lowering front-line military tensions. This was required for it to restart propaganda broadcasts and conduct front-line live-fire military drills in border areas amid intensifying tensions between the two countries.

Tensions Escalate on the Korean Peninsula

Numerous trash balloons have been launched by North Korea towards the South since late May. The balloons have reportedly dropped scraps of cloth, cigarette butts, waste batteries and even manure on South Korea, though they haven’t caused major damage. North Korea has described this exercise as retribution for South Korean activists flying political leaflets into the country. Amid the back-and-forth of balloons, activists from South Korea, including North Korean defectors, have also flown out flash drives containing K-pop.

Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, stated on Tuesday that South Koreans involved in leafleting activities should be prepared to pay a “gruesome and dear price.” She also mentioned the discovery of additional South Korean leaflets within the country.