North Korea launches balloons full of trash, manure into South Korea

North Korea flew packages of trash and manure into South Korea on Wednesday using hundreds of balloons.

South Korean authorities said they recovered about 260 of the smelly gifts from their northern neighbors. The balloons were carrying various types of trash and manure, but no human feces, according to officials.

This photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, shows balloons with trash presumably sent by North Korea, in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea, Wednesday, May 29, 2024. In another sign of tensions between the war-divided rivals, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea also has been flying large numbers of balloons carrying trash toward the South since Tuesday night, in an apparent retaliation against South Korean activists for flying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border. (South Korea Presidential Office via AP) — This photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, shows balloons with trash presumably sent by North Korea, in South Chungcheong Province, South Korea, Wednesday, May 29, 2024. (South Korea Presidential Office via AP)

Everyday citizens were told to avoid the packages out of fear they could contain some kind of deadly device or chemical.

While no dangerous packages were found, the South Korean military sent chemical and explosive device response teams to each stinky landing site.

North Korea implied the trash balloons were a response to leaflets flown over the demilitarized zone (DMZ) by activists in South Korea. When the South Korean government was asked previously about the leaflets, it said it couldn’t stop people from using their “freedom of expression.”

This photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, shows trash from a balloon presumably sent by North Korea, in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 29, 2024. In another sign of tensions between the war-divided rivals, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea also has been flying large numbers of balloons carrying trash toward the South since Tuesday night, in an apparent retaliation against South Korean activists for flying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border. (South Korea Presidential Office via AP) — This photo provided by South Korea Defense Ministry, shows trash from a balloon presumably sent by North Korea, in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 29, 2024. (South Korea Presidential Office via AP)

“Once you experience how nasty and exhausting it feels to go around picking up dirty filth, you will realize that you shouldn’t talk about freedom of expression so easily when it comes to [leafleting] in border areas,” said Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea had promised over the weekend to unleash “mounds of wastepaper and filth” into South Korea after the leaflets landed.

Dropping piles of trash on his southern enemy is not a new strategy for Kim Jong Un. In 2016, the North similarly flew hundreds of balloons carrying trash over the DMZ and into South Korea.

“We were concerned that North Korea could have sent biochemical substances to harm our people, but after analyzing the contents it was just trash,” a South Korean military official said after that incident.

With News Wire Services