A chocolate milk sweet wrapper believed to be from a trash balloon launched from North Korea was found on a road in Seoul on July 24, 2024. -- AFP file

A North Korean balloon carrying trash landed on Seoul's presidential compound on Thursday, according to authorities. Local media reported that the balloon contained propaganda leaflets mocking President Yoon Suk Yeol and his wife. Activist groups in South Korea have frequently sent propaganda northward via balloons, including leaflets, US dollar bills, and sometimes USB drives loaded with K-pop or K-dramas, which are prohibited in North Korea.

Since May, North Korea has been sending trash-laden balloons into the South, claiming it is retaliation for the activists' propaganda efforts. A balloon from the North "exploded in the air, and the debris was scattered around the Yongsan office area" early Thursday morning, the Presidential Security Service stated in a release to AFP, referring to the presidential compound. The service confirmed that a safety inspection found "no dangerous risk or contamination."

This marks the second time the South Korean leader's office in downtown Seoul, heavily guarded by soldiers and under a no-fly zone, has been directly hit by balloons from the North, with the first incident occurring in July. South Korea's Chosun Daily reported that the balloon carried anti-South leaflets ridiculing President Yoon and his wife Kim Keon Hee, featuring photographs of the couple and phrases like: "It's fortunate that President Yoon and his wife have no children" and "South Korea is the Kingdom of Keon Hee."

The South Korean first lady, Kim Keon Hee, is accused of involvement in a stock manipulation scheme and interfering in the conservative ruling People Power Party's candidate nominations ahead of the April general elections. The South Korean military declined to confirm the report when asked by AFP. The incident follows Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, accusing South Korean activists of sending anti-Pyongyang materials into the North and South Korea of deploying unmanned drones to Pyongyang.

"Seoul will have to experience firsthand the dangers of its actions and the terrible, fatal consequences it has brought upon itself," she said. Washington warned on Wednesday that at least 3,000 North Korean soldiers have been sent to Russia for training and would become legitimate targets for Kyiv if they engage in combat in Ukraine.

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