North Korea trash balloon lands in South Korea president’s compound, safety says

LONDON and SEOUL — Refuse carried by a North Korean “trash balloon” landed contained in the South Korean presidential compound within the capital metropolis of Seoul on Thursday amid rising tensions between the 2 neighbors.

The South Korean Presidential Safety Service “recognized trash that blew up within the air and fell within the workplace compound early this morning,” the service stated in a Thursday assertion.

“After a security inspection, the service collected the fallen objects after confirming they don’t comprise hazard or contagiousness,” the service added. “The service is monitoring the state of affairs in cooperation with the Joint Chiefs of Workers.”

That is the second time one in all North Korea’s trash balloons fell contained in the South Korean Presidential Workplace Compound.

Cross-border balloons have been one component of the latest deterioration in inter-Korean relations, with the interval of diplomatic thaw from 2017 giving method to new tensions because the election of conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol within the spring of 2022.

The balloons have been discovered carrying family waste objects together with paper, vinyl and plastic bottles, in accordance with the South Korean navy. Some trash balloons carried manure.

A number of fires have additionally been reported in metropolitan areas attributed to “warmth timers” hooked up to the balloons.

North Korea launched a complete of 5,500 trash balloons at South Korea on 22 events from Might 28 to Sept. 23 this yr, Lee Sung-joon — a spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Workers — stated final month.

Seoul estimated that North Korea spent 550 million gained — round $411,600 — to supply the balloons, South Korea’s Yonhap information company reported.

Lee stated in September after 120 balloons had been launched that Seoul would contemplate navy motion to down them if crucial. “If North Korea’s continued trash balloons are judged to pose a critical risk to the security of our residents or to have crossed the road, the navy will take stern navy motion,” he stated.

South Korean civic teams have additionally launched balloons throughout the border, a lot to Pyongyang’s chagrin.

Such balloons usually carry rice, important drugs and leaflets crucial of chief Kim Jong Un’s regime. North Korea has repeatedly protested such motion and threatened a response.

The frontier area has been significantly tense this month. On Oct. 15, Seoul stated North Korea blew up two border roads and deployed “heavy gear” for “additional operations.”

South Korean troops alongside the border fired warning photographs in response, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Workers stated in a press release.

The detonations adopted a North Korean warning that it supposed to completely seal off border entry routes, chopping rail and street connections and reinforcing defensive fortifications.

The explosions got here shortly after Kim ordered his artillery forces — historically essentially the most potent risk to the capital Seoul, which sits round 35 miles from the frontier — onto full alert, having accused Seoul of flying drones over Pyongyang.

The face-off on the Korean Peninsula might now unfold to Ukraine, the place Seoul, Kyiv and Washington, D.C. have accused Pyongyang of deploying troops in assist of Russia’s invasion.

Yonhap reported that Seoul is now contemplating sending weapons to Ukraine in response, having thus far solely offered humanitarian support.

Yonhap additionally stated South Korea is contemplating sending navy and intelligence personnel to Ukraine to probe North Korean battlefield efficiency and assist with interrogations of captured North Korean fighters.

ABC Information’ Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.