N. Korean trash balloon blamed for Paju warehouse fire

The charred rooftop of a pharmaceutical warehouse in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, Sunday (Gyeonggi Northern Fire and Disaster Headquarters)

The past five days have seen a flurry of trash and debris littering the greater Seoul area again as North Korea resumed its campaign of floating hundreds of trash-carrying balloons over the border into South Korean territory.

On Sunday, one of these balloons touched off a fire in a warehouse in the city of Paju, just 28 kilometers north of Seoul, local fire officials reported Monday.

The fire reportedly broke out on the rooftop of a single-story pharmaceutical warehouse at around 1:59 p.m on Sunday, covering an area of 330 square meters. Firefighters from the local department responded to the scene and managed to put out the blaze by 5:05 p.m.

Though no injuries were reported, the incident caused an estimated 87 million won (approximately $65,000) in damage.

Authorities believe that a detonation device had been attached to the balloon, igniting the materials inside. Military officials have been called in to the scene to conduct further investigation.

While South Korean authorities have not yet found evidence that the North's balloons are deliberately designed to start fires or carry harmful materials, these balloons have caused occasional property damage in public and residential areas across greater Seoul. Sunday's incident is the latest in a series of potentially life-threatening incidents sparked by the North's balloon campaign, which began on May 28.

On June 2, a vehicle caught fire after a balloon dropped onto it in Bucheon. Just over a month later, on July 24, a balloon exploded in flames on the roof of an apartment complex in Goyang, prompting firefighters to rush to the scene.

More recently, on Thursday, a fire broke out at the entrance of a parking lot near a tennis court in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo-gu, possibly related to a trash balloon.

Throughout this summer, the North has launched trash-carrying balloons into South Korea on 17 separate occasions.

Pyongyang claims that the balloon launches are a response to North Korean defector groups here floating their own balloons carrying anti-Kim Jong Un leaflets and USB flash drives containing K-pop music and dramas, which are strictly prohibited in the North, as part of a propaganda campaign targeting North Korean citizens.

By Moon Ki-hoon(moonkihoon@heraldcorp.com)