South Koreans warned to stay away from Kim Jong-un’s trash-filled balloons as North floats 600 more across the border in ‘irrational’ bombardment

South Koreans have been warned to stay away from Kim Jong Un’s trash-filled balloons after North Korea floated another 600 through the DMZ.

Staff in hazmat suits were seen collecting piles of rubbish containing everything from cigarette butts to bits of cardboard and plastic.

South Korea has called the latest provocation from its nuclear-armed neighbor “irrational” and “low-class,” but unlike the wave of recent ballistic missile launches, the waste campaign violates U.N. sanctions against Kim Jong Un’s isolated regime not.

Seoul has warned of strong countermeasures unless the North stops the balloon bombardment, saying it violates the armistice deal that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff urged the public to stay away from the waste piles, although “no hazardous substances have been found.”

Staff in hazmat suits were seen collecting piles of rubbish containing everything from cigarette butts to bits of cardboard and plastic

South Korea has called its nuclear-armed neighbor’s latest provocation ‘irrational’ and ‘low-class’

Seoul has warned of strong countermeasures unless the North stops the balloon bombardment

About 900 balloons have been sent south by Pyongyang since Tuesday, the JCS said, adding that the last wave arrived late on Saturday.

Around 10am (0100 GMT) on Sunday, ‘approximately 600 balloons were identified, with approximately 20 to 50 balloons moving through the air per hour’.

The balloons land in northern provinces, including the capital Seoul and the neighboring area of ​​Gyeonggi, where nearly half of South Korea’s population lives.

The latest batch of balloons was full of “waste such as cigarette butts, waste paper, bits of cloth and plastic,” JCS said.

“Our military conducts surveillance and reconnaissance from the balloon launch points, tracks them through aerial reconnaissance and collects the fallen debris, prioritizing public safety,” the report said.

“We urge the public to avoid contact with the fallen waste balloons and report it to the nearest military unit or police station,” it added.

South Koreans have been warned to stay away from Kim Jong Un’s trash-filled balloons (pictured) after North Korea floated another 600 through the DMZ

About 900 balloons have been sent south by Pyongyang since Tuesday, the JCS said, adding that the last wave arrived late on Saturday.

Around 10am (0100 GMT) on Sunday, ‘approximately 600 balloons have been identified, with around 20 to 50 balloons moving through the air per hour’

South Korea’s National Security Council is expected to meet today to discuss a plan to respond to the balloons by resuming loudspeaker propaganda campaigns along the border with North Korea, Yonhap reported.

In the past, South Korea has broadcast anti-Kim propaganda to the North, angering Pyongyang.

Activists in the South have also floated their own balloons over the border, filled with leaflets and sometimes cash, rice or USB drives full of K-dramas.

Earlier this week, Pyongyang described its “sincere gifts” as retaliation for the propaganda-laden balloons sent to North Korea.

“If Seoul chooses to resume anti-North broadcasts over loudspeakers along the border, which Pyongyang hates as much as anti-Kim balloons, it could lead to limited armed conflict along border areas, such as in the West Sea Cheong Seong said. chang, director of Korean Peninsula Strategy at the Sejong Institute.

In 2018, during a period of improved inter-Korean relations, both leaders agreed to “completely cease all hostile acts against each other in all areas,” including the distribution of leaflets.

South Korea’s National Security Council is expected to meet today to discuss a plan to respond to the balloons by resuming loudspeaker propaganda campaigns along the border with North Korea.

Earlier this week, Pyongyang described its “sincere gifts” as retaliation for the propaganda-laden balloons sent to North Korea.

Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong – one of Pyongyang’s top spokespeople – mocked South Korea for complaining about the balloons this week

South Korea’s parliament passed a law in 2020 criminalizing sending leaflets to the North, but the law – which failed to deter activists – was rejected last year as a violation of freedom of expression.

Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong – one of Pyongyang’s top spokespeople – mocked South Korea for complaining about the balloons this week, saying North Koreans were simply exercising their freedom of speech.

The two Koreas’ propaganda offensives have sometimes escalated into bigger tit-for-tats.

In June 2020, Pyongyang unilaterally severed all official military and political communications links with the South and blew up an inter-Korean liaison office on its side of the border.

The waste campaign comes after analysts warned that Kim tests weapons before sending them to Russia for use in Ukraine. South Korea’s defense minister said this weekend that Pyongyang has now shipped about 10,000 containers of weapons to Moscow in exchange for Russian satellite knowledge. How.