Between Saturday and Sunday morning, about 330 "trash balloons" were released from North Korea, according to the General Staff in the capital Seoul.
More than 80 of them landed in South Korean territory. The rest probably did not reach their target. The litter included paper and plastic, among other items.
Preliminary investigation revealed that they did not contain any dangerous substance. Still, people were urged not to touch objects that had fallen on the ground.
North Korea's balloon crackdown is a response to similar activities by South Korean groups, who repeatedly send thousands of leaflets and other propaganda materials across the border in giant gas balloons.
In the pamphlets, they criticize the authoritarian leadership of the closed neighboring country. The propaganda activities of South Korean activists are considered controversial in South Korea.
According to South Korean media reports, two separate groups carried out such leaflet campaigns on Thursday and Friday.
Pyongyang generally responds sensitively to outside propaganda and accuses the Seoul government of supporting such balloon campaigns by private groups.
North Korea has sent more than 1,000 balloons filled with waste products and, in some cases, slurry, to South Korea since late May.
In view of rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea's government recently decided to suspend a 2018 military agreement with North Korea over confidence-building measures on the border.
This paved the way for resumption of military exercises near the Military Demarcation Line and possible propaganda broadcasts with loudspeakers in the north.
sd/svn
More than 80 of them landed in South Korean territory. The rest probably did not reach their target. The litter included paper and plastic, among other items.
Preliminary investigation revealed that they did not contain any dangerous substance. Still, people were urged not to touch objects that had fallen on the ground.
North Korea's balloon crackdown is a response to similar activities by South Korean groups, who repeatedly send thousands of leaflets and other propaganda materials across the border in giant gas balloons.
In the pamphlets, they criticize the authoritarian leadership of the closed neighboring country. The propaganda activities of South Korean activists are considered controversial in South Korea.
According to South Korean media reports, two separate groups carried out such leaflet campaigns on Thursday and Friday.
Pyongyang generally responds sensitively to outside propaganda and accuses the Seoul government of supporting such balloon campaigns by private groups.
North Korea has sent more than 1,000 balloons filled with waste products and, in some cases, slurry, to South Korea since late May.
In view of rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula, South Korea's government recently decided to suspend a 2018 military agreement with North Korea over confidence-building measures on the border.
This paved the way for resumption of military exercises near the Military Demarcation Line and possible propaganda broadcasts with loudspeakers in the north.
sd/svn
