North Korea releases balloons filled with trash again, despite South Korea's warning to respond

Earlier this week, North Korea released about 260 balloons carrying bags of trash, including used batteries, cigarette butts and what appeared to be animal feces, according to South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).

Authorities in Seoul condemned the "degrading" action. The South Korean Unification Ministry also warned that the government would take countermeasures if Pyongyang did not stop such "unreasonable provocations."

On June 1, JCS informed the press that North Korea once again launched balloons containing trash into South Korea.

JCS recommends that people do not touch the balloons and report them to the authorities.

The Seoul city government also sent a text message alert to residents on the morning of June 1, warning of "unidentified objects suspected to be North Korean propaganda leaflets."

"The object was detected in the airspace near Seoul and is being handled by the military," the JCS said in a statement, also advising people to "avoid outdoor activities."

Pyongyang had previously called the balloon release a "sincere gift" in retaliation for balloons carrying anti-leader Kim Jong Un propaganda that were launched into North Korea.

For years, North Korea has expressed outrage at balloons launched by South Korean activists carrying anti-Pyongyang material. They sometimes include cash, rice or USB sticks containing South Korean TV series.

South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik said North Korea's release of balloons carrying garbage was "an unimaginably petty and low-class act." On the contrary, he explained that the balloons launched by South Korean activists into North Korea were "humanitarian aid balloons."

In 2018, during a period of improved inter-Korean relations, the leaders of the two Koreas agreed to "completely cease all hostile acts against each other in all fields," including the distribution of leaflets.

In 2020, the South Korean National Assembly passed a law criminalizing sending leaflets to North Korea, but activists have not stopped.

That same year, Pyongyang unilaterally cut off all official military and political communication lines with Seoul, and destroyed an inter-Korean liaison office on its territory in the border area.

Last year, South Korea's Constitutional Court struck down the 2020 law, saying it was an improper restriction on freedom of expression.

Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong, has mocked South Korea for complaining about the balloons, saying North Koreans were simply exercising their right to freedom of speech.