North Korea pounds junk balloons over South Korean territory

New Delhi: South Korea said that North Korea had again sent balloons carrying "trash" into its territory overnight, following a similar campaign earlier in the week. According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, Pyongyang launched 600 balloons filled with items such as cigarette butts, fabric, paper waste, and plastic, which were discovered scattered across the capital between 8 p.m. and 10 a.m. (local time).

South Korea's military stated that it is closely monitoring the origin of the balloons and conducting aerial surveillance to locate and retrieve them, as they carried large bags of trash beneath them. This action is in response to activists sending anti-North Korean leaflets across the border, according to Pyongyang.

This incident follows North Korea's recent action on Wednesday, where it launched hundreds of balloons filled with trash and excrement across the heavily fortified border, describing them as "gifts of sincerity." South Korea condemned this move as both provocative and hazardous.

Emergency alerts were issued in North Gyeongsang and Gangwon provinces, as well as parts of Seoul, advising people to avoid contact with the balloons and to notify authorities if they encountered them.

South Korea's National Security Council standing committee is set to meet on Sunday afternoon to discuss the possibility of resuming loudspeaker broadcasts directed at North Korea in response to the balloon incident. According to Yonhap news agency, citing the presidential office, South Korea had stopped broadcasting propaganda across the border in 2018 following a rare summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.