On May 29, 2024, a balloon believed to be launched by North Korea appeared over a rice field in Cheorwon, South Korea. The balloon was carrying various objects, including what appeared to be garbage and excrement.
Yonhap News Agency | Reuters
Seoul, South Korea – Trash and propaganda rain down Korean Peninsula.
This is not the cross-border attack South Korea has been fearing, but the country’s military said on Wednesday that Neighbors with nuclear weapons More than 200 have been launched balloon Trash, bottles, old batteries, leaflets, fertilizer and other waste are carried across the border overnight.
The balloons are mostly found in the border provinces of Gyeonggi and Gangwon Province, but have also been spotted hundreds of miles south of Gyeongsangnam Province.
South Korea A government emergency disaster alert was issued, urging citizens not to touch the objects and to report any further incidents to the military.
A response team was sent to find out exactly what was in the balloon, confirming it contained chemical fertilizers. South Korea’s Defense Ministry told NBC News that no human waste was found, but said North Korea did transport human waste via balloon in 2016.
North Korea often uses human waste as fertilizer.
Photos released by the South Korean military showed plastic bags filled with garbage attached to inflated balloons.
Other images appeared to show trash scattered around the collapsed balloon, with one photo showing a bag with the word “excrement” written on it.
According to Yonhap News Agency, This is the largest number of balloons launched by North Korea since similar incidents between 2016 and 2018.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry told NBC News that North Korea also jammed GPS frequencies along the two countries’ de facto maritime border.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said “these actions by North Korea violate international law and threaten the security of our people” and urged North Korea to immediately stop its “inhumane and vulgar behavior.”
North Korea’s deputy defense minister warned of “tit-for-tat action” after South Korean activists recently distributed anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.
In early May, North Korean defector-turned-human rights activist Park Sang-hak sent 20 balloons containing 300,000 leaflets denouncing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The balloons were also stuffed with USB flash drives containing Korean media such as K-pop music and Korean dramas, as well as U.S. dollar bills.
“I want the North Korean people to know that Kim Jong Un is the enemy of the South Korean people,” Park said in a phone interview with NBC News on Wednesday.
He added that he wanted to show North Korean people what it was like to live in the South after defecting.
“They have to know that Kim Jong Un is lying when he labels South Koreans American slaves, when the truth is that North Koreans are Kim Jong Un’s slaves,” he said.
The standoff between the two neighbors has escalated in recent months, with Kim’s actions raising concerns among some analysts that they may even be preparing for military action.
— Stella Kim reported from Seoul, and Michael Fiorentino reported from London.
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