Officials in South Korea had said on Thursday, that North Korea had sent about 500 balloons filled with thrash into its (South Korean) airspace within the past 24 hours, disrupting scheduled flights and starting a fire on the roof of a residential building.
It is said that the balloons are part of an ongoing propaganda campaign by Pyongyang against North Korean defectors and activists in the South, who occasionally send balloons filled with items such as anti-Pyongyang leaflets medicine, money and USB sticks loaded with K-pop videos and dramas.
One of such alleged balloons had halted take-offs and landings at Seoul’s Gimpo Airport on Wednesday evening for two hours, according to a statement by the Korea Airports Corporation.
This is not a new phenomenon however as these balloons have affected traffic at South Korea’s main international airport, Incheon, severally in recent weeks.
In Gyeonggi, a province close to Seoul, a balloon caught fire while on top of a residential building. Fire fighters had to be dispatched to extinguish the fire, an official at the Gyeonggi Northern Fire and Disaster Headquarters had reported.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s military have said that some of these trash balloons were filled with timed poppers that could cause fires.
The tally of balloons that have landed in South Korea as of Thursday, July 25 stands at 480 with most of it carrying paper and plastic trash.
