North Korea has sent a new batch of hundreds of garbage balloons south of its border, Seoul's armed forces said today, in an act South Korea's president denounced as a "vile and senseless provocation."
Pyongyang sent about 350 balloons filled with garbage overnight, the South Korean military's general staff said, mainly to the northern South Korean province of Yeonggi and the capital Seoul. The bags tied to the balloons contained "mostly waste paper," the South Korean military said, adding that they did not pose a risk to public safety.
"The South Korean military intends to immediately conduct its own psychological warfare," the general staff added in its statement. South Korean President Yun Suk-yeol condemned the recent balloon launch, calling it a "vile and senseless provocation" in a speech marking the anniversary of the start of the Korean War.
He also denounced the agreement between North Korea and Russia, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Pyongyang last week, saying it constituted a "blatant violation of UN Security Council resolutions."
"Our armed forces will be on full alert to ensure that North Korea does not dare to provoke South Korea under any circumstances, and will respond overwhelmingly and decisively to any provocation from the North," he added. Yoon. Pyongyang has already sent more than a thousand garbage-carrying balloons to South Korea, in what it says is retaliation for balloon shipments carrying propaganda material by South Korean activists.
In response, Seoul completely suspended a military accord aimed at reducing tensions and sometimes re-used loudspeakers along the two countries' borders to broadcast propaganda material.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister and a key spokeswoman for the North Korean government, Kim Yo-yong, warned South Korea earlier this month that if the leaflet-dropping and loudspeaker broadcasts continued, Seoul "will undoubtedly experience the new counterattack of North Korea".
Source: protothema.gr
