North Korea trash balloons disrupt flights in Seoul, cause rooftop fire
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[July 25, 2024]
By Hyunsu Yim
SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea has sent about 500 balloons laden with
trash into South Korea's air space over the past 24 hours, officials in
the South said on Thursday, disrupting flights and igniting a fire on
the roof of a residential building.
The balloons are part of an ongoing propaganda campaign by Pyongyang
against North Korean defectors and activists in the South, who regularly
send balloons carrying items such as anti-Pyongyang leaflets medicine,
money and USB sticks loaded with K-pop videos and dramas. |
A plastic bag carrying various objects including what appeared to be
trash that crossed inter-Korean border with a balloon believed to have
been sent by North Korea, is pictured in Seoul, in this picture provided
and released by the Defense Ministry, June 2, 2024. The Defense
Ministry/Handout via REUTERS/ File Photo |
A suspected balloon suspended take-offs and landings at Seoul's
Gimpo Airport on Wednesday evening for two hours, an official at
the Korea Airports Corporation said.
Balloons have affected traffic at South Korea's main
international airport, Incheon, several times in recent weeks.
In Gyeonggi, a province near Seoul, a balloon caught fire on top
of a residential building. Fire fighters extinguished the blaze,
an official at the Gyeonggi Northern Fire and Disaster
Headquarters said.
South Korea's military said some trash balloons were equipped
with timed poppers that could cause fires.
"A timer is attached to the trash balloons, which has the effect
of popping the balloons and spreading the trash after a certain
period of time has passed," Lee Sung-jun, a spokesperson for
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a briefing.
Lee said 480 balloons had landed mostly carrying paper and
plastic trash in South Korea as of Thursday.
On Wednesday, North Korean balloons had landed in the vicinity
of the heavily guarded presidential office in Seoul.
(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Ed Davies and Miral Fahmy)
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