North Korea launched a new series of “trash balloons” towards its southern neighbor on Wednesday night, local media reported.
Korean Yonhap News North Korea has reportedly launched more than 160 balloons loaded with garbage across the southern border.
The report quoted South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) as saying it had found dozens of “bundles of garbage” containing paper, plastic bottles and other household waste in parts of Gyeonggi province, which surrounds the capital Seoul.
A hot air balloon can be seen from the unification observation post in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Earlier this month, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said they had detected around 420 balloons that were suspected to have been launched by North Korea toward South Korea.
The rubbish pile is the latest act of retaliation between the two Koreas, which have been trading Cold War-style tactics since the beginning of the year, with North Korea I've released thousands of balloons. Towards the south, it became filled with waste paper, rags, cigarette butts and even fertiliser.
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Balloons believed to have been sent by North Korea are seen over a rice field in Incheon, South Korea. For months, South Korea has been watching closely as North Korea has sent balloons loaded with garbage across its heavily armed border. (Lim Seong-seok/Yonhap News via AP/File)
North Korea says the balloons are in retaliation against South Korean civilian activists who have been flying anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets across the border.
At least one North Korean balloon carrying debris fell on South Korea's presidential palace in July, raising concerns about the vulnerability of key South Korean facilities, though officials said the balloon contained no dangerous material and no one was injured.
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South Korea retaliated by blasting propaganda messages and K-pop songs at North Korea over loudspeakers on the front lines.
The exchanges have heightened tensions already heightened by North Korea's growing nuclear ambitions and expanded joint military drills with South Korea and the United States.
