North Korea has sent hundreds of trash-filled balloons southward, Seoul’s military said Tuesday, the latest in a string of border barrages that spurred a tit-for-tat propaganda blitz.
Pyongyang released over 350 balloons Monday evening, according to Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, with approximately 100 landing in the South, primarily in northern Gyeonggi province and the capital Seoul.
The bags tied to the balloons contained mostly paper waste and posed no safety danger to the public.
“The South Korean military is ready to carry out its psychological warfare immediately”, the JCS said, adding that the response all depends on North Korea’s actions.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol described the North’s newest wave of trash-carrying balloons as a despicable and irrational provocation in a speech commemorating the start of the Korean War.
He denounced a deal between Pyongyang and Moscow, struck last week by Russian President Vladimir Putin during a state visit to North Korea, as a blatant violation of UN Security Council resolutions.
“Our military will maintain a steadfast readiness to ensure that North Korea does not dare to challenge South Korea under any circumstances and will respond overwhelmingly and decisively to any provocations from the North”, Yoon continued.
Pyongyang has already dispatched over a thousand balloons carrying rubbish southward in retribution for anti-regime propaganda balloons flown north by protestors.
In retaliation, Seoul has canceled a military agreement aimed at lowering tensions and resumed some propaganda broadcasts from border loudspeakers.
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a top government spokesperson, warned earlier this month that if leaflet drops and loudspeaker broadcasts continued, Seoul would undoubtedly witness the new counteraction of the DPRK.
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