North launched 720 trash balloons into South over weekend: JCS

North Korea sent approximately 720 balloons laden with trash into South Korea over the weekend, according to Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on Sunday.

A South Korean worker dressed in a hazmat suit cleans up trash sent over the border by North Korea that landed in a parking lot of a shopping mall in Siheung, Gyeonggi, on Sunday. [YONHAP]

North Korea sent approximately 720 balloons laden with trash into South Korea over the weekend, according to Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on Sunday.

The JCS said the balloons floated over the inter-Korean border and fell across South Korea between 8 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. Sunday, and that the balloons carried trash similar to those launched by the North earlier in the week, such as cigarette butts, paper and plastic bags.

“Approximately 20 to 50 balloons per hour are making their way down to Seoul, Gyeonggi, North Chungcheong and North Gyeongsang,” a JCS official told reporters on condition of anonymity, leaving open the possibility that more balloons could be detected.

North Korea flew around 260 balloons carrying bundles of trash and excrement into the South on Tuesday and Wednesday in what it described as a “tit-for-tat action” against anti-regime leaflets sent over the border by defectors and human rights groups.

In messages delivered over South Korea’s advisory alert system, regional governments have warned people not to touch the packages and to instead report them to nearby military or police authorities.

The Seoul city government said Sunday that it will operate an emergency hotline 24 hours a day to respond to reports filed by residents about the balloon-borne objects.

The South Korean military has thus far refrained from intercepting the balloons mid-flight, fearing that they may be carrying toxic chemicals.

There have been no reports about injuries or damage resulting from contact with the balloons or their packages so far.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]