North Korean waste balloons halt flights at Incheon Airport for nearly three hours

Waste-laden balloons from North Korea disrupted flight operations at Incheon International Airport early Wednesday for nearly three hours.

An airplane takes off from a runway at Incheon International Airport in July last year. [NEWS1]

Waste-laden balloons from North Korea disrupted flight operations at Incheon International Airport early Wednesday morning for nearly three hours.

According to the Incheon International Airport Corporation, all landings and takeoffs were suspended or delayed between 1:46 a.m. and 4:44 a.m. on the same day.

Both domestic and international flights were affected.

The airport corporation explained that air traffic control grounded the planes due to a safety risk, as balloon-carried substances can cause an accident if ingested into an engine.

The airport authority confirmed that all flights were operating on time as of 7 a.m. on Wednesday.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said that Pyongyang floated waste-filled balloons over the inter-Korean border on Tuesday night, marking the sixth launch this year — following the fifth launch on Monday night.

Of around 250 filth-filled balloons sent from the North, over 100 landed in northern Gyeonggi and Seoul, the JCS said Wednesday.

The South Korean military authorities said the balloons mostly contained pieces of low-quality paper sized around 8 centimeters (3.14 inches) in width and length. More than 7,000 pieces of paper were stuffed in every bag attached to each balloon.

The JCS official added that no hazardous materials were detected.

As a safety precaution, the South's authorities warned people of the floating balloons. Each balloon weighs over 10 kilograms (22 pounds) and can injure people on the ground or damage properties when it rapidly descends.

No property damages or casualties were reported regarding the sixth balloon launch.

In response to the North's series of balloon launches, a JCS official said Wednesday that the South Korean military is "ready to operate loudspeaker broadcast immediately against the North." The official added that "the operation of the speakers depends on North Korean behaviors."

South Korea's military aired the anti-North broadcast with the loudspeakers in the inter-Korean border regions on June 9 as a response to three rounds of balloon launches from the North. Since then, the loudspeakers have remained silent.

BY LEE SOO-JUNG [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]