It has been reported that North Korea launched approximately 350 trash balloons toward South Korea last night. In response, the South Korean military has prepared loudspeaker broadcasts directed at North Korea, warning that these will be implemented based on North Korea’s subsequent actions.
According to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff on the 25th, the South Korean military identified all 350 balloons from the previous night to 9 a.m. that day. It is reported that none of the balloons are currently visible in the air. The trash balloons that fell in South Korean areas, including northern Gyeonggi and Seoul, are estimated to be around 100. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the balloons primarily contained paper trash, and no hazardous materials have been identified.
North Korea sent over 1,600 balloons to South Korea on May 28th to 29th, June 1st to 2nd, 8th to 9th, and the night of the 9th in response to the distribution of anti-North leaflets by defector groups in South Korea.
Kim Yo Jong, the vice department director of the Workers’ Party of North Korea, mentioned in a statement released on the 21st criticizing the distribution of anti-North leaflets by defector groups on the 20th, “It’s natural that we have to do things we don’t have to do when they do things they were told not to do.” In the meantime, the South Korean military has taken a cautious stance, deciding to implement loudspeaker broadcasts towards North Korea in response to the trash balloons depending on North Korea’s actions rather than immediately.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff emphasized, “Our military is ready to implement psychological warfare broadcasts towards North Korea immediately and will flexibly implement them depending on the strategic and operational situation. This depends on North Korea’s actions.”
The South Korean military resumed loudspeaker broadcasts towards North Korea for the first time in about six years on the afternoon of the 9th in response to North Korea’s third distribution of trash balloons towards South Korea.