Current:Home > MySouth Korea says North Korea is sending even more balloons carrying garbage across border -FutureFinance
South Korea says North Korea is sending even more balloons carrying garbage across border
View
Date:2025-04-13 12:55:40
North Korea launched more trash-carrying balloons toward the South after a similar campaign earlier in the week, according to South Korea's military, in what Pyongyang calls retaliation for activists flying anti-North Korean leaflets across the border.
South Korea's Defense Ministry did not immediately comment on the number of balloons it had detected or how many have landed in South Korea. The military advised people to beware of falling objects and not to touch objects suspected to be from North Korea, but report them to military or police offices instead.
In Seoul, the capital, the city government sent text alerts saying that unidentified objects suspected to be flown from North Korea were being detected in skies near the city and that the military was responding to them.
The North's balloon launches added to a recent series of provocative steps, which include its failed spy satellite launch and and a barrage of short-range missile launches this week that the North said was intended to demonstrate its ability to attack the South preemptively.
South Korea's military dispatched chemical rapid response and explosive clearance teams to recover the debris from some 260 North Korean balloons that were found in various parts of the country from Tuesday night to Wednesday. The military said the balloons carried various types of trash and manure but no dangerous substances like chemical, biological or radioactive materials.
In a statement on Wednesday, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, confirmed that the North sent the balloons to make good on her country's recent threat to "scatter mounds of wastepaper and filth" in South Korea in response to leafleting campaigns by South Korean activists.
She hinted that balloons could become the North's standard response to leafletting moving forward, saying that the North would respond by "scattering rubbish dozens of times more than those being scattered to us."
North Korea is extremely sensitive about any outside attempt to undermine Kim Jong Un's absolute control over the country's 26 million people, most of whom have little access to foreign news.
In 2020, North Korea blew up an empty South Korean-built liaison office on its territory after a furious response to South Korean civilian leafleting campaigns. In 2014, North Korea fired at propaganda balloons flying toward its territory and South Korea returned fire, though there were no casualties.
In 2022, North Korea even suggested that balloons flown from South Korea had caused a COVID-19 outbreak in the isolated nation, a highly questionable claim that appeared to be an attempt to blame the South for worsening inter-Korean relations.
- In:
- South Korea
- Politics
- North Korea
veryGood! (11357)
Related
- Moving abroad can be expensive: These 5 countries will 'pay' you to move there
- 2024 Paris Olympics in primetime highlights, updates: Ledecky, Brody Malone star
- Technology’s grip on modern life is pushing us down a dimly lit path of digital land mines
- 'Futurama' Season 12: Premiere date, episode schedule, where to watch
- Former Syrian official arrested in California who oversaw prison charged with torture
- Olympic gold medals by country: Who has won the most golds at Paris Olympics?
- Simone Biles competes in Olympics gymnastics with a calf injury: What we know
- Simone Biles competes in Olympics gymnastics with a calf injury: What we know
- Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
- Anthony Edwards up for challenge against US women's table tennis team
Ranking
- The Super Bowl could end in a 'three
- Tom Cruise, John Legend among celebrities on hand to watch Simone Biles
- Fires in the West are becoming ever bigger, consuming. Why and what can be done?
- Maine launches investigation after 2 escape youth center, steal car
- Mets have visions of grandeur, and a dynasty, with Juan Soto as major catalyst
- USA vs. New Zealand live updates: Score, time, TV for Olympic soccer games today
- Boar's Head issues recall for more than 200,000 pounds of liverwurst, other sliced meats
- Why USA Volleyball’s Jordan Larson came out of retirement at 37 to prove doubters wrong
Recommendation
'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
Should Companies Get Paid When Governments Phase Out Fossil Fuels? They Already Are
Packers QB Jordan Love ties record for NFL's highest-paid player with massive contract
Serena Williams' Husband Alexis Ohanian Aces Role as Her Personal Umbrella Holder
What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
How many gold medals does Simone Biles have? What to know about her records, wins, more
Drone-spying scandal: FIFA strips Canada of 6 points in Olympic women’s soccer, bans coaches 1 year
Video shows flaming object streaking across sky in Mexico, could be remnants of rocket