Following new garbage balloons from North Korea, Seoul resumes broadcasting public messages.
North Korea has sent over 300 balloons with garbage bags attached over the border since Saturday, as per the South Korean army. Around 80 of these bags have landed in their territory, with no visible objects in the air at present. South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff informed about this on Sunday. Examination of the bags revealed they were filled with discarded paper and plastic and "harbored no harmful substances."
The Seoul city administration and nearby Gyeonggi province authorities alerted residents through text messages on Saturday. Mayor Oh Se Hoon of Seoul described this act as a "petty provocation" against their civilian areas via Facebook.
In recent weeks, North Korea had mailed hundreds of balloons filled with garbage across the boundary. The contents of these bags comprised discarded items like cigarette ends, plastic, torn fabric and scrap paper, and maybe animal manure. This led South Korea to suspend a military agreement with North Korea from 2018. This particular pact intends to minimize hostilities on the Korean Peninsula and stop accidental escalations, particularly in the fortified demilitarized zone.
Seoul had imposed a partial suspension on the agreement last year after Pyongyang launched a spy satellite into space. This action permits South Korea to carry out military exercises and disseminate propaganda through loudspeakers located along the boundary.
South Korean activists have been firing more than 30 balloons stuffed with K-Pop tracks, dollars, and leaflets defaming Kim Jong Un, irking Pyongyang.
South Korea's reinstatement of loudspeakers, an action dating back to the Korean War, could intensify disputes between the two nations, asserted experts.
