Cigarettes, waste paper and manure: North Korea sends 700 rubbish-filled balloons to South Korea

In the past week, North Korea floated hundreds of huge balloons to dump "mounds of wastepaper and filth" on South Korea

South Korea vowed to take “unbearable” retaliatory steps against North Korea after it launched a second wave of balloons filled with rubbish across the border.

In the past week, North Korea floated hundreds of huge balloons to dump "mounds of wastepaper and filth" on South Korea, Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said.

It also simulated nuclear strikes against its neighbour and allegedly jammed GPS navigation signals in the South in an escalation of animosities between the rivals.

South Korea’s national security director Chang Ho-jin said top officials decided in an emergency meeting on Sunday to take “unbearable” measures against North Korea in response.

Chang called the North’s balloon campaign and its alleged GPS signal jamming “absurd, irrational acts of provocation that a normal country can’t imagine.” He accused North Korea of aiming to cause “public anxieties and chaos” in South Korea. South Korean officials didn’t say what retaliatory steps they would take.

Earlier on Sunday, South Korea’s military said that more than 700 balloons flown from North Korea were additionally discovered in various parts of South Korea.

South Korean soldier wearing protective gears checks rubbish from a balloon presumably sent by North Korea. Credit: AP

Tied to the balloons were cigarette butts, scraps of cloth, waste paper and vinyl, but no dangerous substances, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. It was North Korea’s second balloon activity in less than a week. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, South Korean officials said they had found about 260 North Korean balloons carrying rubbish and manure. There have been no reports of major damage in South Korea. North Korea said its balloon floating was in reaction to South Korean activists flying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets via their own balloons across the border.

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