(IntegrityTimes.com) – On the evening of Saturday June 8 and well into the morning of the next day, North Korea sent 1,400 balloons across the border into South Korea.
The balloons were carrying garbage or manure. The action is in retaliation against a propaganda campaign directed at North Korea by activists in South Korea. The activists have been sending balloons into North Korea with anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets, usb sticks with Korean pop music or television or even snacks and cash attached to them.
South Korea has resumed their loudspeaker broadcasts along the border in response to the trash balloons sent by North Korea. The loudspeakers are situated in border areas and are operated by the South Korean military. They were last used in 2018 before the two countries signed an agreement to reduce tensions. Now, as before, the speakers will be used to broadcast a mix of news, criticism of North Korea’s government, and South Korean pop music.
The sister of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un, Kim Yo Jong, referred to the renewed use of the loudspeakers as the prelude to a “very dangerous situation”. She further warned that the provocation in using the loudspeakers could create a “crisis of confrontation”. Lee Sung Joon, a spokesperson of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, commented that their forces would not be easily provoked. He added that they are conducting broadcasts in sites where their soldiers have sufficient protection, and they are equipped to hit back swiftly if they are attacked.
The U.S.-led United Nations Command (UNC) oversees the uneasy peace in the Demilitarized Zone between North Korea and South Korea. A spokesman for UNC. U.S. Army Colonel Isaac Taylor expressed a wish that both sides could come to the table to resolve their issues. However, he pointed out that since North Korea’s recent declaration that unification with the South is no longer their goal, they have been working to harden their boundaries. North Korea does not seem to differentiate between official South Korean propaganda activities and those initiated by civilian activist groups.
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