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North Korea sends poo balloons to South

 

Kim Jong-un has found a new, and gross, way of annoying South Korea – with a flotilla of excrement filled balloons sent across the border.

North Korea has sent balloons full of rubbish, toilet paper and suspected animal excrement over the border into South Korea, according to local media reports.

Seoul has slammed Pyongyang for its “low class” actions.

Residents who came near to the garbage bags said they had a “distinctive smell,” that left little to the imagination.

Photographs showing white balloons bearing garbage bags full of rubbish and what appeared to be excrement were shared widely by South Korean media, after the North warned this weekend it would shower border areas in “mounds of wastepaper and filth” to punish Seoul.

 

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said that “unidentified objects believed to be North Korean propaganda leaflets have been identified in the Gyeonggi-Gangwon border area and the military is taking action”.

 

Unidentified objects believed to be excrement and North Korean propaganda material attached to balloons on a street in Chungnam Province. (Photo by Handout / South Korean Defence Ministry / AFP)
Unidentified objects believed to be excrement and North Korean propaganda material attached to balloons on a street in Chungnam Province. (Photo by Handout / South Korean Defence Ministry / AFP)

“Citizens should refrain from outdoor activities, do not come into contact with any unknown objects, and report them to the nearest military base or police,” it said in a statement sent to AFP.

It said that the North’s actions “clearly violate international laws and seriously threaten the safety of our people”.

“We sternly warn the North to immediately stop its inhumane and low-class actions,” it added.

Late on Tuesday night, Gyeonggi province issued a text message alert to residents saying: “Refrain from outdoor activities and report (objects from North Korea) to military bases when identified.”

 

One of the bag’s contents. (Photo by Handout / South Korean Defence Ministry / AFP) /
One of the bag’s contents. (Photo by Handout / South Korean Defence Ministry / AFP) /

 

There was random trash in the nag. (Photo by Handout / South Korean Defence Ministry / AFP)
There was random trash in the nag. (Photo by Handout / South Korean Defence Ministry / AFP)

 

South Korean activists sometimes release balloons carrying anti-Kim Jong Un regime propaganda leaflets and money intended for people living north of the border.

Pyongyang has long been infuriated by the propaganda campaigns, possibly due to concerns that an influx of outside information in the tightly controlled society could pose a threat to the Kim regime.

North Korea recently threatened to retaliate.

“Tit-for-tat action will be also taken against frequent scattering of leaflets and other rubbish by the ROK (Republic of Korea – the official name of South Korea) near border areas,” Kim Kang Il, a vice-minister of defence, said in a statement on Sunday.

“Mounds of wastepaper and filth will soon be scattered over the border areas and the interior of the ROK and it will directly experience how much effort is required to remove them,” Mr Kim said in the statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.

 

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un giving a speech during a visit to the Academy of National Defence Science to celebrate its 60th anniversary in Pyongyang this month. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)
North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un giving a speech during a visit to the Academy of National Defence Science to celebrate its 60th anniversary in Pyongyang this month. (Photo by KCNA VIA KNS / AFP)

Since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, the two Koreas remain technically at war and are separated by a heavily fortified border.

North Korea has sent propaganda balloons across the border before, in 2016 for example, but their approach is a bit different this time, Cheong Seong-chang of the Sejong Institute told AFP.

“Bags filled with toilet paper, trash and Chinese batteries were found,” he said.

“Also from witness statements that there was a ‘distinctive smell’ from the bag, it is likely they sent faeces, probably animal faeces, as well,” he added.

 

One province issues an alert asking residents to stay indoors. (Photo by Handout / South Korean Defence Ministry / AFP)
One province issues an alert asking residents to stay indoors. (Photo by Handout / South Korean Defence Ministry / AFP)

“It’s a stern message to South Korea that like the South, North Korea can send propaganda as well, and they should immediately stop doing it,” Mr Cheong said, adding the border would be “strongly controlled after this”.

North Korea on Monday attempted to put a second spy satellite into orbit, but the launch ended in a mid-air explosion.

Seoul conducted drills with fighter jets hours ahead of the attempt in protest, after Pyongyang informed Tokyo of the pending launch window earlier in the week.

North Korea’s Kim said Seoul’s response was “recklessness”, according to a KCNA report Wednesday.

 

Kim said “the present situation requires further bolstering up the war deterrence in every way and steadily developing the DPRK’s armed forces into an entity of super-powerful and absolute strength,” the report said.

Author: Editors Desk, AFP

Source: News Corp Australia Network:

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