The provocations on the inter-Korean border continue. Balloons filled with garbage are apparently flying towards South Korea again. One balloon has now hit a particularly sensitive target.
According to South Korea, a balloon apparently filled with garbage from North Korea landed on the grounds of the presidential office in Seoul. However, the general staff in Seoul announced, according to the official Yonhap news agency, that the balloon posed no chemical, biological or radiological danger. North Korea had previously sent several more balloons towards the border province of Gyeonggi, north of Seoul. The population was called upon not to touch crashed balloons and to report them to the police or military.
According to South Korea, since the end of May North Korea has sent more than 3,000 balloons filled with waste products and some with manure to South Korea, including 500 on Sunday alone.
The two Korean states have been using methods of psychological warfare for months. Just last Thursday, the South Korean government once again broadcast propaganda from its isolated neighbor via loudspeakers on the border. The military broadcasts both political messages and South Korean pop music via loudspeakers aimed at North Korea. 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 become significantly more explosive again in the recent past. Since the beginning of 2022, North Korea has been increasingly testing nuclear-capable missiles and other weapons. South Korea and the USA have meanwhile expanded their military cooperation.
Source: Stern
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