In the past 24 hours, South Korea has been bombarded with around 500 balloons filled with trash from North Korea. This has caused significant disruptions and even ignited a fire on a residential building’s roof.
The balloon campaign has severely impacted air travel. On Wednesday evening, a suspected balloon sighting forced Seoul’s Gimpo Airport to halt take-offs and landings for two hours, according to an official from the Korea Airports Corporation. “A timer is attached to the trash balloons, which has the effect of popping the balloons and spreading the trash after a certain period of time has passed,” explained Lee Sung-jun, spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.of balloons landing near the heavily guarded presidential office in Seoul. Fortunately, the rubbish found in the presidential compound contained no dangerous materials, and no injuries were reported, according to South Korea’s presidential security service.
Lee Illwoo, an expert with the Korea Defense Network in South Korea, added that strong winds in Seoul would make it impossible for North Korea to target specific places with balloons.