North Korea resumed its controversial practice of sending trash-filled balloons across the border to South Korea on Thursday, with 20 such balloons entering South Korean airspace. According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, 10 bundles of trash were discovered in the greater Seoul area, containing propaganda leaflets.
This incident follows comments made by Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, earlier in the week, where she criticized South Korea for sending “political motivational rubbish” into the North. North Korea began launching these trash-filled balloons in May, in retaliation for anti-North Korean leaflets sent by South Korean activists.
While the South Korean military has responded by broadcasting anti-North Korean messages along the border since July, they have not shot down the balloons due to safety concerns. The recent balloon launch is part of an ongoing propaganda war between the two nations.