Korea: South accuses North of sending balloons carrying excrement and trash across border
By Kwedu News
South Korea has accused North Korea of sending hundreds of balloons carrying trash and excrement across their heavily fortified border, a move deemed ‘base and dangerous’ by Seoul, Reuters reports.
The balloons, detected on Wednesday, have sparked a swift response from South Korean authorities, who have deployed explosive ordnance and chemical and biological warfare teams to inspect and collect the objects.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that over 260 balloons had been detected by Wednesday afternoon, with most having landed on the ground.
Photographs released by the South Korean military show inflated balloons tied to plastic bags, with some containing animal feces.
Seoul’s presidential office believes North Korea’s intentions may be to test South Korea’s reaction, but has vowed to respond calmly.
“Putting rubbish and miscellaneous objects into balloons, they seem to want to test how our people would react… and whether our government is indeed disrupted,” an official said.
This incident comes after North Korea’s Vice Defense Minister denounced balloons sent over the border by South Korean activists, calling them ‘dirty things’ and a ‘dangerous provocation.’
North Korea has also been reported to have attempted to jam GPS signals in South Korea, but no damage was reported.
The use of balloons as a form of psychological warfare is not new, with South Korean activists regularly sending balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets, mini radios, food, and USB memory sticks with K-pop music videos and dramas into North Korea.
However, the latest incident has sparked concerns about the escalation of tensions between the two nations.
As Peter Ward, a research fellow at the Sejong Institute, notes, ‘These kinds of grey zone tactics are more difficult to counter and hold less risk of uncontrollable military escalation, even if they’re horrid for the civilians who are ultimately targeted.’
