Security officials informed AFP that North Korean balloons carrying trash struck the South Korean presidential compound on Wednesday, leading Seoul to deploy chemical response teams amid an ongoing propaganda war. This marks the first direct hit on the South Korean leader's office in downtown Seoul, heavily guarded with numerous soldiers and a no-fly zone, by any of the thousands of trash-carrying balloons launched by Pyongyang since May.
The presidential security service stated to AFP, "The chemical, biological, and radiological (warfare) response team has safely collected the trash balloons. After investigation, results confirmed that there was no danger or contamination from the object." South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff had previously confirmed that North Korea was again sending trash-carrying balloons, and Seoul city authorities issued an alert Wednesday morning, advising, "If you find any fallen balloons, do not touch them and report them to the nearest military unit or police station."
This is the tenth instance this year of North Korea sending balloons across the border, claiming it is in retaliation for anti-regime propaganda balloons launched by South Korean activists. In response, South Korea resumed "full scale" propaganda broadcasts from loudspeakers along the border on Sunday, aimed at North Korea. Seoul has also fully suspended a tension-reducing military deal and restarted live-fire drills on border islands and near the demilitarized zone that divides the Korean peninsula.
The two Koreas remain technically at war as the 1950-53 conflict concluded with an armistice, not a peace treaty. The propaganda broadcasts, a tactic dating back to the Korean War, infuriate Pyongyang, which has previously threatened artillery strikes against Seoul's loudspeaker units.
