Brian McDonald
South Korea said on Sunday it would soon take “unbearable” retaliatory measures against North Korea over its launching balloons to carry trash across the border and other provocations.
Last week, North Korea floated hundreds of huge balloons to dump trash in South Korea, simulated nuclear attacks on its neighbor and allegedly blocked GPS navigation signals in the South, in an escalation of animosity between the rivals.
South Korea’s director of national security, Chang Ho-jin, said on Sunday that senior officials, in an emergency meeting, decided to take “unbearable” measures against North Korea in response to its recent series of provocative acts.
Chang called the North’s balloon campaign and alleged GPS signal jamming “absurd and irrational acts of provocation that a normal country cannot imagine.” He accused North Korea of intending to cause “public anxiety and chaos” in South Korea.
South Korean officials did not say what retaliatory measures they would take. But many observers say South Korea will likely resume broadcasts on front-line loudspeakers to North Korea that include criticism of its dire human rights record, world news and K-pop songs. North Korea is extremely sensitive to such broadcasts because most of its 26 million people do not have official access to foreign television and radio programs.
Incheon Fire Headquarters, via AP
Earlier on Sunday, South Korea’s military said that more than 700 balloons from North Korea had been discovered in various parts of South Korea. Tied to the balloons were cigarette butts, pieces of cloth, waste paper and vinyl, but no dangerous substances, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
It was North Korea’s second balloon activity in less than a week. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, South Korean authorities said they found about 260 North Korean balloons carrying trash and manure.
There were no reports of major damage in South Korea.
North Korea said its balloon float was a reaction to South Korean activists who spread anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets via their own balloons across the border. North Korea often responds with fury to balloons coming from South Korea. In 2020, North Korea blew up an empty liaison office built by South Korea in the North, angered by South Korean balloon activities.
Experts say North Korea’s balloon campaign, reportedly the first of its kind in seven years, aims to fuel internal division in South Korea over its conservative government’s tough policy toward the North. They say North Korea is also likely to further escalate tensions ahead of the US presidential election in November.
Since 2022, North Korea has drastically increased the pace of weapons testing to build a larger nuclear arsenal. Last week, it fired a barrage of nuclear-capable weapons into the sea in an exercise simulating a preemptive attack on South Korea.
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