South Korea: North Korea has floated hundreds of garbage-carrying balloons into South Korea following Seoul’s warning to cease propaganda broadcasts across their tense border by Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister.
The South Korean military stated on Monday that Pyongyang sent over 300 balloons stuffed with rubbish over the Korean border overnight. This came after Kim Yo Jong had earlier issued a warning that the loudspeaker broadcasts may potentially trigger a “crisis of confrontation.”
In a statement released on Sunday and distributed by official media, Kim stated, “This is a prelude to a very dangerous situation.”
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) stated that the most recent batch of balloons had just plastic and scrap paper, as opposed to earlier batches that contained unhygienic items including cigarette butts, toilet paper, and excrement.
As of 8:30 am, according to military sources, they had not seen any balloons floating in the sky. After the North sent over 1,000 balloons carrying trash in recent weeks, South Korea started airing audio broadcasts hours earlier.
In the past, the broadcasts have featured K-pop and international news, both of which are prohibited by the Kim administration.
During a phase of inter-Korean reconciliation led by the conservative incumbent Yoon Seok-yeol’s predecessor, former President Moon Jae-in, Seoul stopped the broadcasts in 2018. According to Pyongyang, the balloon campaign was started in revenge for South Korean activists who crossed the border with anti-North Korean pamphlets and USB sticks containing dramas and music from the country.
“Seoul does not want military tension at the inter-Korean border, and Pyongyang does not want outside information threatening the legitimacy of the Kim regime,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.
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