North Korea stops sending garbage-filled balloons to South Korea

North Korea pledged on Sunday to “suspend” the launch of balloons filled with waste – from cigarette butts to tobacco and animal feces – to South Korea after throwing several hundred of them into the balloon in recent days.

“We will temporarily stop the distribution of waste paper across the border,” said the official North Korean news agency KCNA, assuring that this “countermeasure” had been effective.

According to the South Korean General Staff, almost 1,000 balloons have been launched from Pyongyang towards its neighbor since Tuesday, 600 of them on Sunday. Seoul condemned the action as “low-level flight” and threatened retaliation.

On Sunday around 10:00 a.m. local time, the South Korean army registered between 20 and 50 balloons per hour in the air.

The balloons landed in the provinces of northern South Korea, including the capital Seoul and the neighboring Gyeonggi region, which together are home to almost half of the south’s population.

South Korea believed that the North Korean initiative violated the armistice agreement that ended hostilities between the two Koreas in 1953, even though “no dangerous substances were found” in the balloons.

Photo released by the South Korean Ministry of Defense on June 2, 2024 of unidentified objects suspected to be North Korean garbage transported by balloons discovered on a street in Seoul © South Korean Ministry of Defense – Handout

The South Korean General Staff urged the public to avoid “any contact” with this waste.

“Our military is conducting surveillance and reconnaissance operations at the balloon launch sites, tracking them with aerial reconnaissance and collecting fallen debris, with public safety as the top priority,” he added.

– “Free expression” –

Photo released by the South Korean Ministry of Defense on June 2, 2024, showing a cigarette butt believed to be North Korean balloon waste © South Korean Ministry of Defense – Handout

Before the announcement of the suspension of these deliveries, the South Korean National Security Council had planned to meet on Sunday to decide on a response.

According to the South Korean agency Yonhap, this could lead to a resumption of propaganda broadcasts via loudspeakers on the border with North Korea.

“If Seoul decides to resume its loudspeaker campaigns against the North, which Pyongyang hates as much as anti-Kim balloons, it could lead to limited armed conflict in the border areas,” said Cheong Seong-chang, strategy director of the Sejong Institute.

The city of Seoul sent a warning message to the population on Saturday after the discovery of new balloons, warning of the presence of “an unidentified object believed to be North Korean propaganda leaflets.”

Pyongyang said earlier this week that the balloons, “sincere gifts,” were retaliation for balloons carrying propaganda leaflets against ruler Kim Jong Un being sent over its territory.

North Korea has long been angered by such actions by South Korean activists, who sometimes send money, rice or USB sticks with South Korean television series.

In 2018, during a period of détente between the two countries, the two heads of state agreed to “completely cease all hostile actions against each other in all areas”.

South Korea’s parliament passed a law in 2020 criminalizing the sending of leaflets to the North. But the law, which was not respected by activists, was repealed last year on the grounds that it violated freedom of expression.

Photo from the South Korean Ministry of Defense on June 2, 2024. Soldiers examine objects believed to be North Korean garbage transported by balloons on a street in Seoul. © South Korean Ministry of Defense – Handout

Kim Yo Jong, Kim Jong-un’s sister, mocked South Korea this week over the balloons, saying North Koreans were simply exercising their freedom of expression.

The balloon campaign came after analysts assured that Kim Jong-un ordered weapons tests before sending them to Russia for his war in Ukraine.

According to the South Korean Defense Ministry, Pyongyang sent around 10,000 weapons containers to Moscow in exchange for Russian satellite expertise. All rights of reproduction and representation reserved. © (2024) Agence France-Presse