North Korea sends 600 more trash-filled balloons into South

North Korea sent around 600 trash-filled balloons into South Korea overnight, the South Korean military said on Sunday.

The balloons, filled with cigarette butts and plastic, began appearing from 8 p.m. Saturday to 10 a.m. Sunday (1100 GMT on Saturday to 0100 GMT on Sunday), according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff.

The South Korean military said it is monitoring and collecting the balloons, which are landing in northern provinces, including Seoul and Gyeonggi. Emergency alerts were issued in affected areas.

North Korea, formally known as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), began sending hundreds of balloons carrying bags of trash earlier this week. The DPRK called these trash and excrement-filled balloons "gifts of sincerity."

Balloons are 'low-class,' South Korea says 

South Korea, formally known as the Republic of Korea (ROK), has decried the move as "low-class," warning of strong countermeasures unless its neighbor stops such "irrational" provocations.

"Our military is conducting surveillance and reconnaissance from the launch points of the balloons, tracking them through aerial reconnaissance, and collecting the fallen debris, prioritizing public safety," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

"We urge the public to avoid contact with the fallen waste balloons and report them to the nearest military unit or police station," it added.

Since the campaign started Tuesday, some 900 balloons have been launched, the military said.

North Korea says balloons are payback for anti-DPRK leaflets

Pyongyang says its balloons are a retaliation against those sent by South Korean activists, carrying anti-DPRK leaflets. At times, these also include USB thumb drives with South Korean drama series or money, rice.

In 2020, the South Korean parliament passed a law criminalizing the sending leaflets to the North. This law was struck down by South Korea's Constitutional Court last year calling it an impediment to free speech.

Kim Yo Jong, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's sister and a prominent spokesperson for the North Korean government, mocked South Korea's complaints about the balloons, claiming that North Koreans were merely exercising their freedom of expression.

ss/wd (Reuters, AFP)