(USNewsMag.com) – Tensions are rising between South Korea and North Korea following Pyongyang, North Korea’s launch of balloons carrying trash and excrement into South Korea.
Thousands of balloons filled with trash and other waste were sent into South Korea by Pyongyang in retaliation for anti-regime propaganda regularly sent in inflatables across the border into Pyongyang by activists and North Korean defectors in South Korea. North Korea stated it is concerned about the impact the materials could have on the state’s control of the public and the psychology of the people who read or listen to them.
According to South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, while the balloons did not contain hazardous materials, they were landing in the country’s northern provinces, including in the capital, Seoul, an area that is home to almost half of South Korea’s population.
South Korea first responded to the trash balloons by stating it would take “unendurable” measures,” including blaring propaganda from speakers at the border pointed toward North Korea.
On June 2nd, North Korea said it would stop sending the balloons, calling it an effective countermeasure. However, North Korea noted it would resume sending the balloons if South Korea continues to send its anti-regime propaganda campaigns.
Despite North Korea’s statement, on June 3rd, Seoul, South Korea, announced it would suspend a 2018 tension-reducing military agreement it signed with North Korea” until mutual trust between the two Koreas is restored” following the barrage of balloons filled with trash into South Korea. In 2023, Seoul partially suspended the agreement following North Korea launching a spy satellite into orbit. Since then, Pyongyang has stated it no longer recognizes the deal, and North Korea has deployed both weapons and troops at guard posts near the military border.
The suspension of the agreement will allow South Korea to take “sufficient and immediate measures” in response to North Korea’s provocation and to conduct training near the military border, according to the South’s National Security Council.
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