TENSi Higher Retaliatory USB K-Pop, North Korea Sends Again 330 Waste-filled Balloons To South Korea

UNSPLASH/Maurits ILLUSTRATION Bausenhart

JAKARTA - North Korea again sent hundreds of hot air balloons filled with garbage. This action is in response to the shipment of USB packages containing K-Pop and K-Drama.

About 330 balloons carrying trash bags have been sent by North Korea since Saturday, June 8, and about 80 of them have landed in South Korea, Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

Used paper and plastic are found in the package and there are no substances that are harmful to safety, the JCS said.

About 1,060 balloons from North Korea have entered South Korea since May 28, according to a CNN tally.

South Korea's National Security Council held an emergency meeting on Sunday, June 9, to discuss a response to the latest wave of garbage balloons.

Last week, Pyongyang claimed to have sent a total of 3,500 balloons carrying 15 tons of trash to neighboring countries, according to state media KCNA, citing North Korean Deputy Defense Minister Kim Kang Il.

The South Korean military responded on Sunday afternoon by turning the loudspeaker broadcast to North Korea, according to JCS.

The South Korean military had fought for the propaganda broadcast as part of a psychological war against North Korea, until the South Korean military withdrew the equipment after a 2018 summit between the two neighboring countries.

The broadcast informed North Korean soldiers and residents of North Korea about North Korea's "reality" developments in South Korea and Korean culture, the JCS said, adding they could immediately carry out its mission within a few hours if necessary.

JCS said North Korea was "full responsibility" for the current situation and urged North Korea to immediately stop cruel acts such as sending garbage balloons.

Whether the military will play broadcasts over loudspeakers again, "completely depends on North Korea's actions," JCS warned.

North Korean senior official Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, said the resumption of broadcasts over loudspeakers in Seoul was early from a very dangerous situation, in a statement broadcast by KCNA. He also called Pyongyang's recent balloon activity sah

The two countries have been cut off from each other since the Korean War ended in a ceasefire in 1953. Technically they are still at war, and the balloon feud has been going on for decades.

Groups such as North Korean Liberation Fighters have long delivered balloons carrying prohibited items during an isolated totalitarian dictatorship including food, medicines, radio, propaganda leaflets, and South Korean news.