North Korea's trash balloons disrupt Incheon Airport 12 times since May

Incheon International Airport, South Korea's main gateway, has halted its runway operations 12 times since May due to North Korean balloons carrying trash sent over the border.

Pictures of trash-laden balloons sent by North Korea found in various locations across South Korea [YONHAP]

Incheon International Airport, South Korea's main gateway, has halted its runway operations 12 times since May due to North Korean balloons carrying trash sent over the border.

These disruptions, caused by ten separate launches, totaled 265 minutes, according to data submitted by the Seoul Regional Office of Aviation to Rep. Yang Bu-nam of the Democratic Party (DP) on Tuesday.

The Seoul Regional Office of Aviation shuts down the runway for safety when waste balloons approach within a certain distance of the airport.

The first disruption occurred on June 1, four days after North Korea began the waste balloon launches. On that day, runway operations were halted from 10:48 p.m. for 54 minutes. The balloons continued to fall the next day, leading to additional shutdowns from 6:06 a.m. to 6:26 a.m. and 7 a.m. to 7:17 a.m., totaling 37 minutes.

The most significant disruption occurred on June 26, when runway operations were halted for 166 minutes over eight incidents.

This resulted in numerous flight diversions, including Korean Air Flight 9204 from Los Angeles, Atlas Air Flight 8948 from China's Xiamen and China Eastern Airlines Flight 257 from Shanghai. Passengers on these flights were stranded and reportedly had to wait several hours at alternate airports before finally returning to their original destination, Incheon Airport.

These waste balloons were found in 3,359 locations nationwide between May 28 and July 25, according to additional police data provided to Rep. Yang.

The largest number of balloons found was on July 24 — the day of the tenth and most recent launch — when balloons or trash were found in 1,403 locations over two days. This included a landing in the presidential compound in Yongsan District, central Seoul, while a rooftop of a residential building in Goyang, Gyeonggi, caught fire after a waste balloon burst and ignited into flames.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff previously reported that approximately 480 balloons were found across the country after the July 24 launch. The police explained that the discrepancy with police data was due to balloons bursting in the air, causing their contents to scatter widely and be recorded in multiple locations.

Seoul, Gyeonggi, Incheon and Gangwon identified waste balloons after every launch.

In Seoul alone, the balloons were discovered in 2,069 locations, with Nowon District in the northern part reporting the highest number, at 434.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]