North Korea launches more trash balloons toward South: JCS

North Korea sent more balloons likely carrying trash toward South Korea on Saturday, the South's military said, just three days after it floated similar balloons southward.

This file photo, taken from an observation tower in Paju, Gyeonggi, shows trash-carrying balloons rising from the North Korean border county of Kaepung, North Hwanghae Province, toward the South on the morning of Sept. 5. [YONHAP]

North Korea sent more balloons likely carrying trash toward South Korea on Saturday, the South's military said, just three days after it floated similar balloons southward.

In a message sent to reporters at 10:26 p.m., the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the North's balloons could travel to Gyeonggi, warning the public of falling objects and asking people to report balloons to the military or police.

On Wednesday, North Korea sent around 20 balloons likely carrying trash toward the South, but they failed to cross the Military Demarcation Line, according to the JCS.

Since late May, the North has launched thousands of balloons carrying trash in retaliation against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border by North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea.

Saturday's balloon campaign marks the latest in a series of provocations by North Korea this week. On Thursday, the North fired multiple short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea, in what marked its first ballistic missile launch since July 1.

Yonhap