North Korea back on balloon spree, likely carrying trash as South Korea resumes anti-Pyongyang propaganda

North Korea flew more balloons, most likely carrying trash, towards South Korea on Sunday, two days after the South resumed broadcasting anti-Pyongyang propaganda across the border in retaliation for the North's repeated balloon campaigns, Seoul officials said.

According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, the North Korean balloons crossed the border and were flying north of Seoul, the country's capital, reported the AP. The South Korean public was advised to keep an eye out for falling objects and to notify police and military authorities if any balloons fell to the ground.

North Korea's latest balloon launch threatens to increase tensions on the Korean Peninsula. South Korea previously warned that if North Korea continued its provocations, such as balloon launches, it would conduct more extensive loudspeaker broadcasts and take other tougher measures.

Since late May, North Korea has flown several balloons in a series of launch ceremonies, dropping bits of cloth, cigarette butts, waste batteries, and even manure over South Korea, causing no substantial damage.

North Korea said the initial balloons were flown in reaction to South Korean activists conveying political leaflets to the North using their own balloons. North Korea sees South Korean civilian leafleting efforts as a huge threat to its leadership, given the country restricts official access to outside news for the majority of its 26 million citizens, according to experts.

On Tuesday, Kim Yo Jong, sister of the powerful North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned that South Korean “scum” must be ready to pay “a gruesome and dear price" over the leafleating activities. She said more South Korean leaflets had been found in North Korea. Eversince, there has been concerns over North Korea staging physical provocations, instead of balloon launches.

South Korea had suspended a 2018 tension-reduction deal with North Korea, as a response to North Korea’s balloon campaigns.It came as a step required for it to restart propaganda broadcasts and conduct front-line, live-fire military drills at border areas. On June 9,2024, South Korea made propaganda broadcasts for two hours at the border, said the AP.