North Korea launched a new wave of “junk balloons” at its southern neighbors Wednesday night, according to local media.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that the North launched more than 160 balloons carrying debris across its southern border.
The report cited South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) as saying it had discovered dozens of “rubbish bundles” containing paper, plastic bottles and other household waste in parts of Gyeonggi province, which surrounds the capital of Seoul.
Earlier this month, the JCS said it had discovered about 420 balloons allegedly launched by the North into South Korea.
The wastebasket is the latest spat between the two Koreas, which have engaged in Cold War-style tactics since earlier this year, with the North flying thousands of balloons towards the South filled with waste paper, fabric scraps, cigarette butts and even manure.
North Korea says the balloons are in retaliation against South Korean civil activists who fly anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets across the border.
Debris carried by at least one North Korean balloon fell on the South Korean presidential compound in July, raising concerns about the vulnerability of key South Korean facilities. Officials said the balloon contained no hazardous materials and no one was injured.
South Korea has retaliated with frontline loudspeakers blasting propaganda messages and K-pop songs against the North.
The back-and-forth tactics heighten tensions fueled by North Korea’s growing nuclear ambitions and South Korea’s expansion of joint military exercises with the United States