North launches over 350 more trash balloons, Seoul mulls response

North Korea flew more than 350 waste balloons across the border into South Korea on Monday night in the fifth round of such launches this year, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on Tuesday.

Paper bits from waste balloons launched by North Korea on Monday are seen on a street in Seongbuk District, northern Seoul, on the same day. [NEWS1]

North Korea flew more than 350 waste balloons across the border into South Korea on Monday night in the fifth round of such launches this year, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) on Tuesday.

The JCS announced that it was prepared to broadcast loudspeaker announcements to North Korea and warned that it would play them depending on Pyongyang’s response.

The South Korean military identified more than 350 balloons between the previous night and 9 a.m. Tuesday morning.

No additional balloons were currently in the air, the JCS said.

About 100 waste balloons fell in the Seoul and Gyeonggi area, with the JCS explaining that the balloons carried mostly paper-type waste that was free of safety hazards.

Pyongyang previously sent a total of around 1,600 waste balloons in four rounds between May 28 and June 9 in response to the distribution of anti-North Korea leaflets by defector groups and activists in South Korea.

Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, criticized the distribution of anti-Pyongyang leaflets in a statement released Friday, warning that "trouble" was coming because North Korean defectors and activists "did again what they had been urged not to do."

The South Korean military is taking a cautious stance, saying it would decide what to do based on North Korea's response rather than immediately retaliate against the latest balloon launch with loudspeaker broadcasts.

“Our military is ready to implement loudspeaker broadcasts to North Korea immediately and will consider the strategic and operational situation,” the JCS said Tuesday. “It all depends on how North Korea acts.”

South Korea had previously resumed loudspeaker broadcasts to North Korea for the first time in six years on June 9, following North Korea’s third round of waste balloon launches.

According to the Gyeonggi Bukbu Provincial Police Agency, 15 cases of paper bits suspected to have been released from waste balloons were reported in Gyeonggi as of Tuesday afternoon.

“Waste balloons themselves have not been reported, and in all cases, only paper bits were found,” said an official from the agency. “We determined that there was no potential danger and referred the cases to the military.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]