There North Korea has launched a new large quantity of balloons full of rubbish. The complaint comes from the General Staff of the South Korean army which has decided to resume its propaganda broadcasts across the border.
Since last week, Pyongyang has sent more than 3,500 garbage-filled balloons to South Korea in what it said was retaliation for the dropping of anti-Kim propaganda leaflets by a group of North Korean defectors. The most direct effect of this new escalation of tension was the total suspension of the inter-Korean pact signed six years ago.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol had declared in recent days that South Korea would not stand idly by in the face of “threats” from the North Korean authorities: “North Korea, after firing artillery shells in the Yellow Sea and launching missiles, has committed despicable acts that any normal country would be ashamed of.”
The answer came with the resumption of propaganda broadcasts across the border into North Korea. Seoul also announced the installation of loudspeakers near the border to broadcast its propaganda to the North Korean military stationed near the demilitarized zone between the two countries.
The last time Seoul made a decision of this magnitude was in January 2016, in retaliation for North Korea’s fourth nuclear test. “Although the measures we are adopting may be difficult for the North Korean regime to bear – explained the South Korean presidency – the broadcasts will convey messages of light and hope to the North Korean army and citizens”.
“We also want to clarify,” added the statement, reported by the official South Korean news agency Yonhap, that responsibility for any escalation of tension between the two Koreas will fall entirely on North Korea.
