More than 150 North Korean balloons carrying 'filth' crash land in South Korea

North Korea said it launched the balloons in retaliation for activists in the South sending propaganda materials. Credit: AP

Residents have been warned to stay indoors after North Korea sent 150 balloons carrying rubbish across the border into South Korea overnight.

White balloons were found attached to bags of waste, with scraps of plastic, paper and brown-coloured dirt spilling onto roads and pavements.

The South Korean military first detected the barrage on Tuesday night, and authorities are now analysing the contents.

Rubbish spills out of a balloon bag after landing in Seoul, South Korea Credit: AP

People in Gyeonggi and Gangwon provinces have been told to stay away from the 'unidentified objects' which risk damaging homes, airports and roads, according to the government.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said: “North Korea’s actions clearly violate international law and seriously threaten the safety of our citizens.

“All responsibility arising from the North Korean balloons lies entirely with North Korea, and we sternly warn North Korea to immediately stop its inhumane and low-level actions.”

According to North Korean state media, the move was in retaliation to the work of South Korean activists who send objects by balloon into the North.

Aid and items banned in the North have been sent over, such as propaganda leaflets, food, medicine, radios and USB sticks containing South Korean news and television dramas.

Kim Kang Il, North Korea’s Vice Minister of National Defense, told state media: “Scattering leaflets by use of balloons is a dangerous provocation that can be utilized for a specific military purpose."

South Korean authorities said the balloons had the potential to damage infrastructure and buildings.

He accused South Korea of using psychological warfare by scattering “various dirty things” near border areas, declaring the North would take “tit for tat action.”

He added: “Mounds of wastepaper and filth will soon be scattered over the border areas and the interior of South Korea and it will directly experience how much effort is required to remove them.”

In 2020, South Korea passed a law prohibiting the launch of propaganda leaflets into the North, but some activists have vowed to continue.

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