North Korea sent 150 balloons carrying animal faeces, toilet paper and rubbish over its southern border on Wednesday, prompting Seoul to accuse Kim Jong Un’s regime of “low class” actions.
Residents living in the border zone were warned to refrain from outdoor activities and not to touch any suspicious objects as the military’s explosives ordnance unit and chemical and biological warfare response teams were dispatched to the area.
Photographs in the South Korean media showed rubbish bags tethered to large white balloons floating above fields and roads, as well as the aftermath of hard landings where what appeared to be dark excrement had burst across the ground.
Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that “unidentified objects believed to be North Korean propaganda leaflets have been identified” and that the military was taking action.
It said that the North’s actions “clearly violate international laws and seriously threaten the safety of our people.”
“We sternly warn the North to immediately stop its inhumane and low-class actions,” it added.
Kim Kang Il, North Korea’s vice defence minister, warned at the weekend that the regime would fly “mounds of wastepaper and filth” into the South in response to balloons being sent the other way by South Korean activists.
The balloon campaigns are often conducted by human rights groups or North Korean defectors who send leaflets criticising the regime or flash drives with videos of K-pop or Korean dramas that depict life in the more prosperous South.
In a statement, Mr Kim said the North’s own balloons would teach its neighbour “how much effort is required to remove them” as he accused Seoul of conducting “despicable psychological warfare” and scattering “dirty things” across the border.
The incident is the latest twist in simmering tensions between the neighbouring countries that have technically been at war and separated by a heavily fortified border since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice.
On Monday, North Korea attempted to launch a second spy satellite into orbit but failed when the rocket it was attached to exploded mid-air.
South Korea, the US and Japan strongly condemned the attempt as a direct violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions banning Pyongyang’s use of ballistic missile technology.
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