South Korea vowed on Sunday to take “unbearable” measures against North Korea after it sent more garbage-filled balloons across the border over the weekend.
North Korea launched hundreds of more balloons loaded with “filth” into several parts of South Korea, including Seoul, on Saturday. The latest batch of balloons is thought to contain an estimated 700 balloons, following an initial launch of about 260 balloons last Tuesday.
The garbage balloons contained cigarette butts, waste paper, plastic bags and other items, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported Saturday, citing Seoul’s military. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the balloons did not contain any dangerous materials, but residents were instructed not to touch the balloons and to report them to the military or police.
South Korea’s National Security Advisor Jang Ho-jin on Sunday called North Korea’s actions and the alleged jamming of GPS signals “absurd and irrational provocations” and said the country’s top officials had agreed to take “unbearable” measures in response to North Korea, The Associated Press reported.
According to the Associated Press, Pyongyang said the balloons were a response to a campaign by South Korean activists and defectors who had been releasing balloons carrying anti-North Korea leaflets and other propaganda.
South Korean authorities have not said what retaliatory measures they plan to take, but observers said the country may resume loudspeaker broadcasts aimed at North Korea criticizing the human rights record, world news and K-pop songs, according to the Associated Press.
The loudspeaker blasts stopped after a rare summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2018. Reuters reported.
South Korea’s military said last week it had no plans to shoot down incoming balloons to avoid escalating already-high tensions along the border.
“We decided it would be best to drop the balloon and retrieve it safely,” a spokesman for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said last week, according to the Associated Press.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
