SCREENSHOT THE KOREA HERALD

Yonhap News Agency reported on August 11 that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea released about 240 balloons carrying garbage toward South Korea, of which about 10 fell in this country.

According to the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), as of 10:00 a.m. on August 11 (local time), there were no more balloons floating, after North Korea released the balloons on August 10.

A handful of balloons fell in northern Gyeonggi Province near Seoul, as North Korea appeared to continue to release them despite winds blowing north and northeast. The JCS said the balloons contained scraps of paper and plastic bottles and did not contain any hazardous substances.

North Korea resumed its balloon launch campaign on August 10, the first in more than two weeks. This is also the 11th time the country has launched balloons filled with trash this year. Pyongyang did not immediately comment on the latest information from South Korea.

In July, several balloons released by North Korea landed at the South Korean presidential office complex in Seoul.

In June, North Korean Vice Defense Minister Kim Kang-il confirmed that Pyongyang had launched 3,500 balloons containing 15 tons of waste paper into South Korea a week earlier. Kim said that if South Korea continued to send leaflets, North Korea would respond with balloons containing "100 times" the amount of leaflets sent by South Korea. "We have made South Korea experience enough trouble and shown how hard it is to deal with scattered pieces of paper," the vice minister was quoted as saying by KCNA.

In response to North Korea's campaign, South Korea has been broadcasting large-scale anti-Pyongyang propaganda on a daily basis through border loudspeakers since mid-July.