S Korea vows 'unendurable' response to North's
Published: 04:06 PM,Jun 02,2024 | EDITED : 08:06 PM,Jun 02,2024
S Korean soldiers examine various objects including what appeared to be trash from a balloon believed to have been sent by N Korea, in Incheon, South Korea. — Reuters
SEOUL: South Korea said on Sunday it would take 'unendurable' measures against North Korea for sending trash balloons over the border, which could include blaring propaganda from loudspeakers back at the North.
The announcement from President Yoon Suk Yeol's office followed a meeting by his National Security Council on a response to what Seoul said were more than 700 balloons carrying trash that Pyongyang sent over the heavily fortified border to rile its rival neighbour. The council condemned the balloons and GPS jamming as an 'irrational act of provocation'.
Seoul did not rule out resuming the loudspeaker blasts, which it stopped in 2018 after a rare summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a senior official at Yoon's office told reporters.
The democratic South and the communist North remain technically at war since the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Seoul is a firm U.S. ally whose sophisticated military regularly holds drills with the U.S., while Pyongyang is developing missile and nuclear technology that Seoul and Washington say violates U.N. resolutions.
North Korea has said its balloons were in retaliation for a propaganda campaign by North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea, who regularly send inflatables containing anti-Pyongyang leaflets, food, medicine, money and USB sticks loaded with K-pop music videos and dramas across the border.
The North Korean balloons carrying garbage such as cigarette butts, cloth, paper waste and plastic were found across the capital Seoul from 8 p.m. on Saturday to 1 p.m. on Sunday.
It said the military was monitoring the starting point and conducting aerial reconnaissance to track down and collect the balloons, which have large bags of trash suspended beneath them.
South Korean officers with rifles were picking up and bagging what appeared to be trash from the balloons in cordoned-off areas, local media footage showed.
North Korea on Wednesday sent hundreds of balloons carrying trash and what was labelled as manure across the border. Seoul responded angrily, calling the move base and dangerous.
North Korea will temporarily suspend sending balloons carrying trash to South Korea, state media KCNA reported on Sunday, citing a statement from the country's vice defence minister. North Korea will however resume the act if the South sends anti-North Korean leaflets the other way, it added. — Reuters
The announcement from President Yoon Suk Yeol's office followed a meeting by his National Security Council on a response to what Seoul said were more than 700 balloons carrying trash that Pyongyang sent over the heavily fortified border to rile its rival neighbour. The council condemned the balloons and GPS jamming as an 'irrational act of provocation'.
Seoul did not rule out resuming the loudspeaker blasts, which it stopped in 2018 after a rare summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a senior official at Yoon's office told reporters.
The democratic South and the communist North remain technically at war since the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty. Seoul is a firm U.S. ally whose sophisticated military regularly holds drills with the U.S., while Pyongyang is developing missile and nuclear technology that Seoul and Washington say violates U.N. resolutions.
North Korea has said its balloons were in retaliation for a propaganda campaign by North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea, who regularly send inflatables containing anti-Pyongyang leaflets, food, medicine, money and USB sticks loaded with K-pop music videos and dramas across the border.
The North Korean balloons carrying garbage such as cigarette butts, cloth, paper waste and plastic were found across the capital Seoul from 8 p.m. on Saturday to 1 p.m. on Sunday.
It said the military was monitoring the starting point and conducting aerial reconnaissance to track down and collect the balloons, which have large bags of trash suspended beneath them.
South Korean officers with rifles were picking up and bagging what appeared to be trash from the balloons in cordoned-off areas, local media footage showed.
North Korea on Wednesday sent hundreds of balloons carrying trash and what was labelled as manure across the border. Seoul responded angrily, calling the move base and dangerous.
North Korea will temporarily suspend sending balloons carrying trash to South Korea, state media KCNA reported on Sunday, citing a statement from the country's vice defence minister. North Korea will however resume the act if the South sends anti-North Korean leaflets the other way, it added. — Reuters