South Korea said on Sunday that it would take “intolerable” measures in response to the garbage balloons that North Korea began sending across the border days ago.
The announcement came from the office of President Yeon Suk-yul after a meeting of the National Security Council at the South Korean presidency to respond to what Seoul said were more than 700 balloons loaded with waste that Pyongyang sent across the heavily fortified border to anger its neighbour.
The Council condemned the procedures of launching balloons and jamming the Global Positioning System (GPS), describing them as an “irrational provocative act.”
A senior official in the president’s office told reporters that Seoul has not ruled out resuming the operation of its loudspeakers, which were halted in 2018 after a rare summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Pyongyang says the balloons are a response to an ongoing propaganda campaign by North Korean defectors and South Korean activists who are sending across the border balloons containing anti-Pyongyang government leaflets, food, medicine, money and USB drives loaded with video clips.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the balloons, carrying garbage such as cigarette butts, cloth, paper and plastic waste, were found around the capital from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. (1100 GMT on Saturday to 0400 GMT on Sunday).
She added that the army is monitoring the starting point and is conducting an aerial reconnaissance to track down and collect the balloons under which large bags of garbage are hanging.
On Wednesday, North Korea sent hundreds of balloons carrying garbage and excrement across the heavily fortified border in what it described as “sincere gifts.” Seoul responded angrily, describing the move as despicable and dangerous.
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