North Korea’s latest round of its balloon campaign involved around 500 balloons carrying scrap paper and plastic sheets, including those that fell on the presidential office compound in the capital, South Korea’s military said Thursday.
In what marked the second of its kind this week alone, North Korea launched the trash-carrying balloons the previous day, as the South Korean military blared anti-Pyongyang broadcasts in full scale through its border loudspeakers in response to the repeated balloon launches.
Some 480 balloons fell mostly in Seoul and the northern area of nearby Gyeonggi Province, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, while an analysis of the fallen objects showed they did not present a danger. As of 8 a.m., there had been no balloons detected floating midair, it added.
But a fire broke out on a rooftop terrace in Goyang, west of Seoul, caused by a timer attached to the balloon by the North to better spread garbage, according to fire authorities.
JCS spokesperson Col. Lee Sung-jun said the
portion of trash-carrying balloons equipped with similar timers is on the rise, without disclosing relevant figures.
Wednesday’s launch came just three days after the North floated around 500 similar balloons Sunday as part of its balloon campaign that began in late May in a tit-for-tat move against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent by North Korean defectors and activists in the South.
In response, the South Korean military blared loudspeaker broadcasts on the all fronts near the border for the fifth straight day on Thursday.
South Korea briefly conducted loudspeaker broadcasts on June 9 for the first time in six years before turning them off in an apparent bid to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.
North Korea has bristled against the loudspeaker campaign, as well as anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent by South Korean activists, on fears that an influx of outside information could pose a threat to the Kim Jong-un regime.
Last week, Kim Yo-jong, the powerful sister of the North’s leader, warned of ”
gruesome and dear” consequences over continued leaflet campaigns.
In 2014, the two Koreas exchanged machine gun fire across the border after the North apparently tried to shoot down balloons carrying propaganda leaflets critical of North Korea.
The JCS said it believes its loudspeaker broadcasts will have a “powerful impact” on deterring the North Korean military, ruling out the possibility of shooting down the North-launched balloons, citing safety concerns.
“We are turning on pre-installed loudspeakers whereas the North has to continue to consume material to send them to the South, which gives us an upper hand in terms of cost,” Col. Lee said.
“If the situation protracts, it is much more unfavorable for the North Korean military,” Lee said, noting that crackling sounds the North appears to be blaring to block North Koreans from listening to the South’s broadcasts will further distress them.
Observers have raised the need to respond to the North’s repeated balloon launch with other means, such as settin
g up electronic signage or the military organizing its own anti-Pyongyang leafleting campaign.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
