South Korea warned residents living near the border with North Korea to be alert following media reports that balloons carrying various items, including what appeared to be trash and excrement, had been spotted.
Pictures published in South Korean media showed an inflated white balloon with a plastic bag tied to it, and another image of what appeared to be a collapsed balloon with trash strewn around it.
By Wednesday, more than 90 balloons had been detected, with some landing on the ground while others were still in the air, Yonhap News reported, citing a South Korean military source.
The military said unidentified objects believed to be from North Korea had been spotted near the heavily fortified border and urged people to stay away and report them to the military or police.
North Korea’s defense minister issued a statement on Sunday vowing to exercise “strong self-defense force” and warned that “mounds of waste paper and dirt” would be sent to the South in response to it sending “dirty things” to North.
For years, South Korean activists have sent balloons to North Korea carrying leaflets criticizing its leaders as well as USB sticks with K-pop music videos.
Peter Ward, a research fellow at the Sejong Institute, said sending up balloons was much less risky than taking open military action.
“These types of gray area tactics are harder to counter and carry less risk of uncontrollable military escalation, even if they are terrible for the civilians who are ultimately targeted,” he said.
North and South Korea remain technically at war after an armistice agreement ended fighting in the 1950-1953 Korean War.
Their large militaries clash across the inter-Korean border, and North Korea has deployed missiles and rockets aimed at the South and regularly threatens to destroy its neighbor.
