North Korean trash balloons are dumping ‘filth’ on South Korea

Jessie Yeung and Yoonjung Seo, CNN

SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) — North Korea has adopted a caller strategy to contend pinch its confederate neighbor: sending floating bags of trash containing “filth” crossed nan border, carried by monolithic balloons.

The South Korean subject began noticing “large amounts of balloons” arriving from nan North starting Tuesday night, detecting much than 150 arsenic of Wednesday morning, according to nan country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

Photos released by nan JCS show integrative bags carried by 2 elephantine balloons, pinch immoderate surgery packages spilling scraps of plastic, sheets of paper, and what appears to beryllium ungraded onto roads and sidewalks.

The balloons truthful acold incorporate “filth and garbage” and are being analyzed by authorities agencies, said nan JCS, adding that nan subject was cooperating pinch nan United Nations Command.

“North Korea’s actions intelligibly break world rule and earnestly frighten nan information of our citizens,” it added. “All work arising from nan North Korean balloons lies wholly pinch North Korea, and we sternly pass North Korea to instantly extremity its inhumane and low-level actions.”

Local governments besides sent messages to residents successful nan bluish Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces to pass of nan “unidentified objects,” and advised against outdoor activities. The packages consequence damaging residential areas, airports and highways, said nan JCS.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s younger sister Kim Yo Jong – who is besides a elder charismatic successful nan reclusive authorities – referred to nan activities arsenic “freedom of expression.”

In a connection published by state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) connected Wednesday, Kim said that North Korea had dispersed toilet insubstantial and different discarded materials successful bags attached to the balloons on nan Korean separator and cardinal areas.

Kim compared North Korea’s actions to South Korea’s years-long believe of sending balloons pinch anti-North Korea leaflets towards her nation.

“We’ve done immoderate of nan things they ever do, but I don’t cognize why they’re making a large woody for illustration they’ve been deed by a ablution of fire,” Kim said.

The move, according to North Korean authorities media KCNA, was to retaliate against South Korean activists who often nonstop materials to nan North – including propaganda leaflets, food, medicine, radios and USB sticks containing South Korean news and tv dramas, each prohibited successful nan isolated totalitarian dictatorship.

Campaigners successful nan South, including defectors from North Korea, person agelong sent these materials done balloons, drones, and bottles floating down nan cross-border stream – moreover aft South Korea’s parliament banned specified actions successful 2020.

“Scattering leaflets by usage of balloons is simply a vulnerable provocation that tin beryllium utilized for a circumstantial subject purpose,” said Kim Kang Il, North Korea’s Vice Minister of National Defense, KCNA reported connected Sunday.

He accused South Korea of utilizing “psychological warfare” by scattering “various soiled things” adjacent separator areas, declaring that nan North would return “tit for tat action.”

“Mounds of wastepaper and filth will soon beryllium scattered complete nan separator areas and nan interior of (South Korea) and it will straight acquisition really overmuch effort is required to region them,” Kim said, according to KCNA. “When our nationalist sovereignty, information and interests are violated, we will return action immediately.”

South Korean authorities said nan balloons, which landed successful respective locations, were filled pinch ‘filth and garbage.’ | South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff via CNN Newsource

Kim besides decried associated US-South Korea subject drills, which person accrued successful caller years arsenic tensions person risen successful nan Korean peninsula.

The 2020 rule that prohibited sending leaflets also restricted loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts, which nan South’s subject erstwhile championed arsenic portion of psychological warfare against nan North until it withdrew nan instrumentality pursuing a 2018 acme betwixt nan 2 Koreas.

But moreover aft parliament passed nan ban, activists told Reuters they planned to proceed – including nan defector Park Sang-hak, who had been sending materials backmost to his homeland for 15 years, vowing to proceed successful an effort to springiness North Koreans a uncommon glimpse of nan extracurricular world.

Earlier this month, Park’s statement Fighters for a Free North Korea said successful a connection it had sent 20 balloons toward North Korea, containing 300,000 leaflets that condemned Kim Jong Un and 2,000 USB sticks containing K-pop and euphony videos.

“In bid to entreaty and impulse nan North Korean group to emergence up and put an extremity to Kim Jong Un … nan group is sending nan leaflets to nan compatriots successful North Korea,” nan statement said successful a statement.

For decades, North Korea has been almost wholly closed disconnected from nan remainder of nan world, pinch tight power complete what accusation gets successful aliases out. Foreign materials including movies and books are banned, pinch only a fewer state-sanctioned exceptions; those caught pinch overseas contraband often look terrible punishment, defectors say.

Earlier this twelvemonth a South Korean investigation group has released uncommon footage that it claimed showed North Korean teenagers sentenced to difficult labor for watching and distributing K-dramas.

Restrictions softened somewhat successful caller decades arsenic North Korea’s narration pinch China expanded. Tentative steps to unfastened up allowed immoderate South Korean elements, including parts of its popular culture, to seep into nan hermit federation – particularly successful 2017 and 2018, erstwhile relations thawed betwixt nan 2 countries.

But nan business successful North Korea deteriorated successful nan pursuing years and negotiated talks fell isolated – prompting strict rules to threat back into spot successful nan North.