North Korea releases 600 extra garbage-laden balloons toward South Korea.
The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff reported that no hazardous materials were found among the balloons that reached their territory on Saturday night, different from a few days earlier when used toilet paper was discovered in about 150 of the balloons that crossed the border.
New images from the JCS show a big sack containing paper left on the side of the road, with other pictures displaying police officers examining the trash strewn about. Burned cigarette butts are shown in other pictures.
The packages are carried by large, gas-filled balloons, as revealed by photos provided by authorities.
South Korea's military is working with the police, local government, safety ministry, and the United Nations Command to safely collect the balloons and the debris. The balloons were discovered in Seoul and the provinces of Gyeonggi and Chungcheong, with some even spotted more than 300 kilometers (185 miles) south of the capital, in Gyeongsang Province.
The two neighboring countries have been separated since the end of the Korean War in 1953 by an armistice agreement. They are still officially at war.
Kim Yo Jong, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un's sister and a senior figure in the secluded nation, referred to the balloons as "sincere presents" and promised to send more, state-run Korean Central News Agency reported on Wednesday.
Kim Yo Jong compared North Korea's actions to South Korea's long-standing practice of sending anti-North Korea leaflets via balloons across the border in the opposite direction.
North Korea is almost completely isolated from the rest of the world, with extreme control over the information that enters or exits the country. The distribution of foreign media, including movies and books, is strictly prohibited, with only a few authorized exceptions. Those caught with prohibited foreign goods are often subject to severe penalties, according to defectors.
Earlier this year, a South Korean research group made public previously unknown footage that they claim shows North Korean teenagers sentenced to forced labor for watching and distributing K-dramas.
The restrictions on outside influence lessened somewhat in recent decades as North Korea's relationship with China advanced. Limited openings allowed some South Korean elements, such as parts of its pop culture, to penetrate the isolated nation, especially during 2017 and 2018 when relations between the two nations improved.
However, the situation in North Korea deteriorated in subsequent years, and diplomatic talks broke down, leading to the rapid reinstatement of tight rules.
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The balloons released by North Korea often contain trash and debris, occasionally reaching countries beyond its border, such as when garbage-laden balloons were discovered in various parts of South Korea, including Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, even reaching Gyeongsang Province, which is over 300 kilometers south of the capital.
As a response to this ongoing tension between the two nations, South Korea and other international organizations are working together to monitor and collect these balloons, as these events highlight the significant divide between Asia and the world, with North Korea being almost completely isolated from the latter.
