North Korea has launched approximately 500 balloons filled with garbage into South Korea's airspace within the last day, according to South Korean officials on Thursday. These balloons have caused disruptions to flights and sparked a fire on the roof of a residential building. This tactic is part of Pyongyang's ongoing propaganda efforts aimed at North Korean defectors and activists in the South, who often send balloons carrying items like anti-Pyongyang leaflets, medicine, money, and USB sticks with K-pop videos and dramas.
A suspected balloon led to a suspension of take-offs and landings at Seoul's Gimpo Airport on Wednesday evening for two hours, as confirmed by an official from the Korea Airports Corporation. Balloons have intermittently affected operations at South Korea's primary international airport, Incheon, in recent weeks. In Gyeonggi, a region near Seoul, a balloon ignited a fire on a residential building's roof; firefighters promptly extinguished the blaze, according to an official from the Gyeonggi Northern Fire and Disaster Headquarters.
South Korea's military reports that some of the trash-filled balloons are equipped with timed poppers capable of causing fires. "A timer is attached to the trash balloons, which pops the balloons and scatters the trash after a set period," explained Lee Sung-jun, spokesperson for South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, during a briefing. Lee noted that by Thursday, 480 balloons had landed in South Korea, mostly carrying paper and plastic trash. On Wednesday, North Korean balloons were spotted near the heavily guarded presidential office in Seoul.
