North Korea launches garbage balloons into South Korea

South Korean authorities warned residents of border areas to be careful, Liter.kz reports.

A little earlier, reports appeared that the DPRK launched more than 90 balloons towards South Korea.

“Citizens should refrain from active recreation, not come into contact with unidentified objects and report them to the nearest military base or police,” South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement, as quoted by AFP. It was initially reported that propaganda leaflets were launched into the border areas last night, but local media write that garbage and waste were attached to the balloons.

Photos released by Yonhap show white balloons with packages attached to them. The bags were reported to have a strong odor.

Air Force clarifiesthat South Korean activists sometimes launch balloons towards the North with leaflets criticizing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, as well as USB flash drives with videos of K-pop artists banned in the DPRK.

On Sunday, Pyongyang warned of retaliation “for the frequent scattering of leaflets and other debris” by South Korea.

The Deputy Minister of Defense of the DPRK stated that heaps of waste paper and garbage will soon be scattered across the border areas and internal territories of the Republic of Korea, and “it will experience for itself how much effort it takes to clean them up.”