North Korean Balloon Drops Trash on South Korea’s Presidential Compound

Trash carried by at least one North Korean balloon fell on the South Korean presidential compound on Wednesday.

The trash that fell on the ground at the presidential compound in central Seoul contained no dangerous material, but it raised concern about the security of key South Korean facilities from North Korean provocations. It is feared that in future North Korea may drop hazardous materials by such balloons.

North Korea’s latest balloon launches came days after South Korea boosted its frontline broadcasts of K-pop songs and propaganda messages across the heavily armed border.

North Korea used the direction of winds to fly balloons toward South Korea. In the past there were some North Korean balloons that had timers meant to pop the bags of trash mid-air.

It was North Korea’s 10th such trash balloon launch since late May. More than 2,000 huge balloons so far have dropped wastepaper, scraps of cloth, cigarette butts and even manure on South Korea.