2024-06-02 09:34:31
NEW DELHI: South Korea, on Sunday, said that North Korea again sent balloons carrying ‘trash’ into its country overnight after a similar campaign earlier in the week.
According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, Pyongyang sent 600 balloons filled with items such as cigarette butts, fabric, paper waste, and plastic, were discovered scattered across the capital between 8 pm and 10 am (local time).
The military confirmed that it was closely monitoring the source of the balloons and conducting aerial surveillance to locate and retrieve them, as they carried large bags of trash suspended beneath them. This came as what Pyongyang calls retaliation for activists flying anti-North Korean leaflets across the border.
This incident follows North Korea’s recent action on Wednesday when it launched hundreds of balloons filled with trash and excrement across the heavily fortified border, branding them as “”gifts of sincerity”.” South Korea condemned this move as provocative and hazardous.
Emergency alerts were issued in North Gyeongsang and Gangwon provinces, as well as certain areas of Seoul, cautioning people against coming into contact with the balloons and urging them to notify the authorities.
South Korea’s National Security Council standing committee is scheduled to convene on Sunday afternoon to discuss whether to resume broadcasting loudspeaker messages directed at North Korea in response to the balloon incident, as reported by Yonhap news agency, citing the presidential office.
South Korea had ceased broadcasting propaganda across the border in 2018 following a rare summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
(With inputs from agency)
According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, Pyongyang sent 600 balloons filled with items such as cigarette butts, fabric, paper waste, and plastic, were discovered scattered across the capital between 8 pm and 10 am (local time).
The military confirmed that it was closely monitoring the source of the balloons and conducting aerial surveillance to locate and retrieve them, as they carried large bags of trash suspended beneath them. This came as what Pyongyang calls retaliation for activists flying anti-North Korean leaflets across the border.
This incident follows North Korea’s recent action on Wednesday when it launched hundreds of balloons filled with trash and excrement across the heavily fortified border, branding them as “”gifts of sincerity”.” South Korea condemned this move as provocative and hazardous.
Emergency alerts were issued in North Gyeongsang and Gangwon provinces, as well as certain areas of Seoul, cautioning people against coming into contact with the balloons and urging them to notify the authorities.
South Korea’s National Security Council standing committee is scheduled to convene on Sunday afternoon to discuss whether to resume broadcasting loudspeaker messages directed at North Korea in response to the balloon incident, as reported by Yonhap news agency, citing the presidential office.
South Korea had ceased broadcasting propaganda across the border in 2018 following a rare summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
(With inputs from agency)
