Politics North Korea again sends suspected garbage balloons across the border

According to South Korea, North Korea has once again sent balloons with plastic bags presumably full of garbage across the heavily militarized border between the two countries. According to the official Yonhap news agency, the General Staff in the capital Seoul announced on Saturday that the balloons were heading towards the border province of Gyeonggi. The population was urged not to touch the balloons and to report them to the police instead.

It is the first time in more than two weeks that North Korea has sent balloons to South Korea again. Since the end of May, North Korea has sent at least 3,600 of these flying objects across the border, which were filled with waste products and in some cases liquid manure.

Since mid-July, the South Korean military has responded with methods of psychological warfare, broadcasting daily propaganda to the isolated neighboring country via loudspeaker systems on the border. The North Korean leadership sees such actions as a serious provocation.

After a temporary phase of de-escalation, the conflict on the Korean peninsula has recently become much more explosive again. North Korea has been increasingly testing nuclear-capable missiles and other weapons since the beginning of 2022. Meanwhile, South Korea and the USA have expanded their military cooperation.