North Korea launched a new wave of “junk balloons” against its southern neighbors Wednesday evening, according to local media.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported that the north lake out more than 160 balloons that carried 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 Seoul.
Balloons are seen from the Unification Observation Post in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
Earlier this month, JCS said it had done so discovered about 420 balloons that the North allegedly fired into South Korea.
The bin is the latest spat between the two Koreas, which have engaged in Cold War-style tactics since earlier this year, with the North have flown thousands of balloons towards the south, filled with waste paper, fabric scraps, cigarette butts and even manure.
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A balloon believed to have been sent by North Korea is seen in a rice field in Incheon, South Korea. For months, South Korea has watched North Korea send debris-carrying balloons across its heavily armed border. (Im Sun-suk/Yonhap via AP/File)
North Korea says the balloons are in retaliation against South Korean civil activists who fly anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets across the border.
Trash carried by at least one North Korean the 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.
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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