K-Pop, propaganda, and poo: North and South Korea send retaliatory balloons across the border

A balloon carrying rubbish presumably sent by North Korea, in Incheon, South Korea, provided by Incheon Fire Headquarters. Credit: AP

A balloon battle between North and South Korea is flaring up as an activist group in the South said on Thursday that it flew propaganda leaflets towards the North, while the North has threatened to send more balloons full of manure and rubbish.

In recent weeks, North Korea has floated hundreds of huge balloons carrying manure, cigarette butts, scraps of cloth, waste batteries, and dirty nappies across to South Korea.

The South responded by vowing to take "unbearable" retaliatory steps and suspended a fragile military deal that was designed to ease tensions with its northern neighbour.

North Korea had halted its flights of rubbish-carrying balloons but threatened to resume them if South Korean activists sent leaflets again.

The South Korean civilian group, led by North Korean defector Park Sang-hak, said it had floated 10 balloons tied to 200,000 anti-Pyongyang leaflets, USB sticks with K-pop songs and South Korean dramas and one-dollar US bills from a border town on Thursday.

Park's balloon endeavours have caused furious protests in North Korea, as the country is very wary of outside attempts to undermine Kim Jong Un's rule.

State media in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) previously called Park “human scum without an equal in the world.”

South Korean soldiers wearing protective gears check the rubbish from a balloon presumably sent by North Korea. Credit: AP

South Korea’s military haven't shot down the incoming North Korean balloons to avoid potential damage on the ground and an unwanted armed clash with the North.

It has instead fully suspended a 2018 military agreement with North Korea to bolster its military readiness along the border.

The agreement, which was reached during a brief period of inter-Korean rapprochement, requires both countries to cease all sorts of hostile acts against each other at border areas, including firing exercises, aerial surveillance and psychological warfare.

The deal has already been in limbo of late, with both Koreas taking some steps in breach of it amid tensions over North Korea’s spy satellite launch last November.

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

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