South Korea slams North Korea's fresh trash balloon launches and threatens loudspeaker broadcasts
South Korea threatened to restart anti-Pyongyang frontline propaganda broadcasts after North Korea resumed its trash-carrying balloon launches.
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea threatened Tuesday to restart anti-Pyongyang frontline propaganda broadcasts in the latest bout of Cold War-style campaigns between the rivals after North Korea resumed its trash-carrying balloon launches.
On Monday night, North Korea floated huge balloons carrying plastic bags of rubbish across the border in its fifth such campaign since late May — an apparent response to South Korean activists flying political leaflets via balloons.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called North Korea’s balloon activities “a despicable and irrational provocation.”
In a speech marking the 74th anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 Korean War, Yoon said Tuesday that South Korea will maintain a firm military readiness to overwhelmingly respond to any provocations by North Korea.
South Korea’s military said North Korea floated about 350 balloons in its latest campaign, about 100 of which eventually landed on South Korean soil, mostly in and around Seoul, the capital, which is about 25 to 30 miles away from the border. The military said the trash carried by the North Korean balloons was mostly papers and that no hazardous items were found.
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