South Korean authorities say bags attached to balloons sent over from North Korea “contained filthy waste and trash” and are being analysed by officials.
North Korea has dropped more than 100 balloons carrying propaganda leaflets, rubbish and excrement on two South Korean provinces, with officials warning residents to stay indoors to avoid being hit with the unhygienic substances.
South Korea’s military cautioned the public against touching the white balloons and the plastic bags attached to them because they contain “filthy waste and trash”.
Images taken by local media show inflated balloons floating in the air with plastic bags tethered to them.
Other images show collapsed balloons on the ground with rubbish and excrement splattered nearby.
According to Yonhap news agency, more than 150 balloons had been detected, with some still floating in the air above the South Korean provinces.
The South Korean military said some of the balloons appeared to be carrying a number of items such as plastic bottles, batteries, shoe parts and manure.
It appears the South Korean military has directly blamed North Korea for the incident, saying the objects came from across the border near the demilitarised zone – the heavily fortified border that separates the two nations who are still technically at war.
“These acts by North Korea clearly violate international law and seriously threaten our people’s safety,” the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, according to Yonhap. “[We] sternly warn North Korea to immediately stop these inhumane and vulgar acts.”
North and South Korea have both used balloons in their propaganda campaigns since the Korean War in the 1950s.
The incident comes after North Korea said it would strike back against “frequent scattering of leaflets and other rubbish” by activists in the South.
“Mounds of wastepaper and filth will soon be scattered over the border areas and the interior of the ROK [Republic of Korea] and it will directly experience how much effort is required to remove them,” North Korea’s vice-minister of defence Kim Kang Il said in a statement on Sunday.
Earlier this month, a South Korea-based activist group claimed it had sent 20 balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets and USB sticks containing Korean pop music and music videos across the border.
