North Korea has flown hundreds of balloons carrying trash and manure toward South Korea in one of its most bizarre provocations against its rival in years, prompting the South’s military to mobilise chemical and explosive response teams to recover objects and debris in different parts of the country.
The South’s military said about 260 North Korean balloons were found in various parts of the country as of Wednesday afternoon and were being recovered by military rapid response and explosive clearance teams.
The military said the balloons brought various types of trash and manure but so far they had found no human excrement. It advised civilians not to touch the objects from North Korea and to report to military or police after discovering them.
- In a statement issued over the weekend, North Korean Vice Defense Minister Kim Kang Il said the North was planning to scatter “mounds of wastepaper and filth” over border areas and other parts of South Korea, in what he described as “tit-for-tat” action against the leafletting by South Korean activists.
This photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, shows trash from a balloon presumably sent by North Korea, in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 29, 2024.
