North Korea has launched at least 260 balloons carrying trash into South Korea, prompting authorities to warn residents to stay indoors. South Korea’s military also asked that they should not touch the white balloons or the plastic bags attached to them, as they contain human waste.
The balloons have been found in eight of South Korea’s nine provinces and are now being analyzed.
North Korea’s campaign began on Tuesday last week, with Pyongyang sending about 260 balloons carrying cigarette butts, pieces of cloth, garbage paper and feces into South Korea. The balloons, carried by the wind, fell all over the country.
North and South Korea have used balloons in their propaganda campaigns since the Korean War in the 1950s. South Korea’s military had earlier said it was investigating whether there were any North Korean propaganda leaflets on the balloons.
The recent incident comes days after North Korea said it would retaliate against the constant scattering of leaflets and other trash in border areas by activists from South Korea. In a regime as authoritarian as Kim Jong-un’s, any element that comes from abroad is considered a threat to national security.
Why is North Korea launching balloons at South Korea?
The North Korean government confirmed that the balloons were launched in retaliation for that ongoing propaganda campaign carried out by several North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea.
All of them regularly send inflatables and balloons containing anti-projectile brochures, food, medicine, money and even USB sticks loaded with K-pop music videos and series across the border.
Kim Yo-jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and an influential ruling party official, issued a statement through the Korean Central News Agency, condemning Seoul as “shameful and brazen” for criticizing the balloons while defending the freedom of expression of its own citizens. She said North Korea’s balloons were “gifts of sincerity” to South Koreans who “clamor for freedom of speech.”
As we have already mentioned, North Korea is extremely sensitive to the leaflets and propaganda that South Korean activists throw across the border; this is because they carry information about the outside world and criticism of the Kim dynasty regime, which has ruled since the founding of North Korea by Kim Il Sung in 1948.
Faced with the scenario of the controversial balloons, the South Korean government responded by suspending a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement aimed at reducing hostilities on the disputed border between the two countries. The move will allow Seoul to resume large-scale military training near the border and restart propaganda broadcasts, including K-pop songs and news from abroad, through loudspeakers located on the border.
