North Korea sending more trash balloons: Seoul military

SEOUL: North Korea is sending more balloons likely to be carrying trash into the South, Seoul´s military said on Monday, continuing a tit-for-tat balloon war between the two Koreas.

Seoul´s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that the North “is launching (suspected) trash balloons aimed at the South once again,” adding that the balloons were currently floating across the border. “Citizens are advised to be cautious of falling debris. If you find any fallen balloons do not touch them and report them to the nearest military unit or police station,” it added.

Pyongyang has already sent more than a thousand balloons carrying trash southward, as what it calls retaliation for balloons carrying anti-regime propaganda floated into the North by activists south of the border.

An activist in the South confirmed Friday that he had launched more balloons, with Pyongyang vowing to respond. Seoul city authorities issued an alert to residents on Monday evening saying: “a trash balloon from North Korea has been confirmed to have entered Seoul´s airspace.”

Legally, South Korea cannot sanction activists sending balloons across the border due to a 2023 court ruling that bans it as an unjustifiable infringement on free speech.