South Korea has accused North Korea of sending a large number of balloons across their heavily fortified border, carrying objects including trash and excrement. The South Korean military described this act as base and dangerous. In response, the military’s explosives ordnance unit and chemical and biological warfare response team were deployed to inspect and collect the objects, issuing an alert to residents to avoid the balloons and report any sightings to authorities.
By Wednesday afternoon, over 260 balloons had been detected, most of which had landed on the ground, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Photographs released by the South Korean military showed inflated balloons with plastic bags tied to them, and some images depicted trash strewn around collapsed balloons, with “excrement” written on a bag in one photo. Yonhap news agency reported that some of the balloons contained animal feces.
An official at Seoul’s presidential office suggested that North Korea might be testing the South’s reaction, vowing to respond calmly. “By putting rubbish and miscellaneous objects into balloons, they seem to want to test how our people would react and whether our government is indeed disrupted. Apart from direct provocations, they are exploring how psychological warfare and small-scale complex threats would play out in our country,” the official told reporters.
South Korean activists, often led by North Korean defectors, have regularly sent balloons the other way, carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets, mini radios, food, and USB memory sticks with K-pop music videos and dramas. North Korea has reacted angrily to these balloons, which it denounces as “dirty things” and “dangerous provocations.” On Sunday, North Korea’s vice defense minister warned that “mounds of waste-paper and filth” would be sent to the South in response.
Additionally, North Korea attempted to jam GPS signals in South Korea early Wednesday morning, although no damage was reported, according to the Donga Ilbo newspaper, citing unnamed government sources. The South Korean defense ministry did not offer any immediate information.
A previous South Korean government sought to block such campaigns, especially after a 2014 incident when the North tried to shoot down balloons, leading to complaints from border residents. A ban on balloon launches introduced in 2021 was later ruled unconstitutional by a top court, citing freedom of speech.
Peter Ward, a research fellow at the Sejong Institute, noted that sending balloons is less risky than overt military action. “These kinds of grey zone tactics are more difficult to counter and hold less risk of uncontrollable military escalation, even if they’re horrid for the civilians who are ultimately targeted,” he said.
