Conflict Escalation: South Korea Responds to North Korea Sending Trash Balloons Over the Border
South Korea is taking action after North Korea sent balloons filled with trash over the border in large numbers.
According to South Korea, North Korea has once again sent numerous balloons filled with plastic bags full of trash over the heavily militarized border between the two countries. The General Staff in the capital city of Seoul reported that approximately 330 „trash balloons“ from North Korea had risen between Saturday and Sunday morning (local time), with more than 80 landing on South Korean territory. The remaining balloons likely did not reach their intended target.
The attached bags contained items such as waste paper and plastic. Initial investigations revealed that they did not contain any dangerous substances, but people were still advised not to touch the landed objects.
North Korea’s balloon activities are in response to similar activities by South Korean groups, who frequently send thousands of leaflets and other propaganda materials with large gas balloons across the border. The leaflets criticize the authoritarian leadership of the isolated neighboring country. The propaganda activities of the South Korean activists are controversial in South Korea.
South Korea Fights Back with Speaker Sound
South Korea is now taking action. The National Security Council in Seoul announced on Sunday that they would resume broadcasting messages through loudspeakers to the northern neighbor. The speaker systems are stacked along the border and facing north. In the past, South Korea broadcasted news and Korean pop music at such high volume that they could allegedly be heard up to 20 kilometers away.
„The measures we will take may be unbearable for the North Korean regime, but they will send a message of hope and light to the troops and people of the North,“ explained the Security Council. The council met in the morning after dozens of trash balloons were found in Seoul and near the border. North Korea had started sending balloons over the border in May, laden with several tons of trash. Pyongyang justified this as retaliation for an action by South Korean activists who sent balloons north with leaflets criticizing North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, attached dollar bills, and USB sticks with K-Pop videos and films and TV dramas.
The use of loudspeakers is a form of psychological warfare. South Korea ceased the measure after signing an agreement with North Korea in 2018 to improve relations. However, the pact is effectively on hold now, as North Korea has advanced its missile program and declared the southern neighbor as „enemy number one.“