DPRK releases hundreds more trash balloons South: Seoul's military
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South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff says the DPRK has launched more than 900 such balloons over the past three days.
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South Korean soldiers stand guard during a media tour at the Joint Security Area (JSA) on the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) in the border village of Panmunjom in Paju, South Korea, Friday, March 3, 2023. (AP)
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has released hundreds more balloons filled with trash toward South Korea, Seoul's military claimed on Saturday.
According to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, over the past three days, the DPRK has launched more than 900 such balloons, including around 190 late on Friday, approximately 100 of which have already landed, primarily in Seoul and northern Gyeonggi province.
In July, garbage-filled balloons launched by the DPRK landed on the South Korean president's compound in downtown Seoul, the Yonhap news agency reported, despite the area's no-fly zone and military protection.
The balloons carried bags containing "mostly paper and plastic waste," the military mentioned, emphasizing that they posed no public safety threat.
Since May, Pyongyang has sent nearly 5,000 trash-filled balloons southward, pointing out they are in retaliation for South Korean activists' release of propaganda balloons into the DPRK.
In response, Seoul has suspended a military agreement aimed at reducing tensions with Pyongyang and resumed broadcasting propaganda through loudspeakers along the border.
The most recent balloon launches coincided with a two-day visit by Japan's outgoing Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Seoul, where he met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday. The two leaders emphasized the importance of cooperation between South Korea, Japan, and the United States in addressing the alleged threat of the DPRK.
Tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang remain at one of their highest levels in years, with the DPRK recently announcing the deployment of 250 ballistic missile launchers along its southern border.
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