After North Korea resumed its trash-carrying bubble launches, South Korea threatened on Tuesday to re-air anti-Pyongyang line propaganda broadcasts in the most recent conflict-style campaigns.
In its second strategy since late May, North Korea apparently flies great balloons carrying vinyl bags of garbage across the border on Monday night as a response to North Korean activists who fly political leaflets using balloons.
Yoon Suk Yeol, the president of South Korea, described the ballooning in North Korea as” a vile and foolish provocation.”
Yoon stated in a statement on Tuesday that South Korea will continue to be steadfastly prepared to respond to any threats made by North Korea in a speech commemorating the 74th celebration of the start of the 1950-53 Korean War.
According to South Korea’s defense, the country recently floated about 350 kites, and about 100 of them ended up landing on South Korean ground, mainly in Seoul and nearby areas. Seoul is about 40- 50 km ( 25- 30 kilometers ) away from the border. No harmful things were discovered, according to the military, which were mostly papers that the North Korean balloons carried.
In numerous locations in South Korea, North Korea dropped manure, cigarette butts, spare batteries, as well as cloth scraps and spend papers during earlier balloon launches. No significant damage was reported. South Korea responded by installing massive loudspeakers along the frontier on June 9 for the first time in six years, and it quickly resumed propaganda broadcasts against North Korea.
Lee Sung Joon, a spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated to reporters on Tuesday that the North Korean government is prepared to resume using border headphones. Officials had study unknown proper operating circumstances, according to a written Joint Chiefs of Staff statement, and broadcasting would resume as soon as North Korea acted.
The two Koreas ‘ mental efforts during the Cold War included loudspeaker channels and bubble launch. In recent years, the rivals have agreed to stop these activities, but they rarely resumed them when hostility returned.
Because it forbids the majority of its 26 million citizens from receiving standard access to foreign news, North Korea is very sensitive to border broadcasts and civilian leaflet campaigns.
The previous North Korean border broadcasts included K-pop songs, weather forecasts, and outdoor news, while leaflet campaigns by human activists, primarily North Vietnamese defectors, included USB sticks containing North Korean TV dramas and North Korean human rights violations. In a statement Friday, Kim Yo Jong, the strong sister of North Vietnamese leader Kim Jong Un, called them “human filth” and “disgusting dissenters”.
According to a 2023 constitutional court ruling that downgraded a law criminalizing such leafleting and called it a violation of free speech, South Korean officials maintained that they do n’t impose restrictions on activists ‘ ability to fly flyers to North Korea.
According to many experts, the North Korean balloon campaign is likely to spark a wider inner conflict and develop North Korean hostility.
Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, and Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, signed a deal that required each nation to provide help if attacked and pledged to expand various cooperation in mid-June. According to observers, the deal establishes the two countries ‘ strongest relationship since the Cold War’s finish.
In exchange for military and economic support, North Korea is reportedly offering Russia much-needed standard weapons for its conflict in Ukraine.
In his Korean War talk, Yoon described the Kim- Putin offer as “anachronistic”. A joint speech from South Korea, the United States, and Japan on Monday expresses strong opposition to expanding defense ties between Russia and North Korea.
