SEOUL: South Korea mentioned on Monday (Sept 23) it might take “decisive navy motion” if anybody was killed by a wave of garbage-carrying balloons launched throughout the border from North Korea.
Since May, Pyongyang has despatched greater than 5,500 garbage-laden balloons, disrupting flights, beginning fires and even hitting authorities buildings within the South.
Pyongyang claims the tactic is a response to Southern activists sending balloons crammed with propaganda to the North.
“If the North’s garbage-filled balloons pose a severe safety menace or are deemed to have crossed a line, Seoul will take decisive navy motion,” Lee Sung-joon, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advised reporters.
He mentioned that if somebody died from the balloons, the road can be crossed, however didn’t present particulars on what precisely the “determined” measures would entail.
Most of the balloons despatched from the North have waste paper baggage connected to them, which don’t pose a selected well being danger, however considerations have been raised after new units connected to some have induced fires in latest weeks.
“Our navy is carefully monitoring the North Korean navy and monitoring the launch level of the balloons in actual time,” mentioned Lee of the JCS.
The warning got here hours after the newest balloon launch quickly halted flights at Incheon Airport.
Shortly after the North launched garbage-filled balloons in May, Seoul suspended a navy settlement with Pyongyang and resumed propaganda broadcasts from loudspeakers alongside the border.
