North Korea floats 190 trash balloons in resumed campaign

Seoul: North Korea has launched around 190 balloons filled with scrap paper and other waste toward the South in its resumed balloon campaign, with many found in Seoul and surrounding areas, military officials said on Saturday.

North Korea floated the balloons from Friday night to early Saturday morning, and around 100 have landed in the capital and its surrounding Gyeonggi Province so far, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, Yonhap news agency reported.

No hazardous materials were found in the balloons, which contained only scrap paper, plastic pieces, and bottles.

North Korea resumed its latest balloon campaign Wednesday, continuing for the fourth consecutive day Saturday.

Since late May, the North has launched thousands of balloons carrying trash in retaliation against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border by North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea.

Initially, manure was sent toward the South in these balloons, later replaced by scrap paper and plastic, and then used plastic bottles.

Before the latest campaign, there was a nearly one-month hiatus, beginning August 10.

North Korea appears to have resumed the campaign due to a more consistent supply of materials to fill the balloons.

In response to such campaigns, the South's military has been blasting daily anti-North Korean propaganda broadcasts through loudspeakers on the border since July 21.

North Korea has bristled against the anti-Pyongyang leaflet and loudspeaker campaigns on fears that an influx of outside information could pose a threat to the Kim Jong-un regime.