North Korea sends balloons carrying trash to South Korea again: JCS

Balloons carry garbage, presumably sent by North Korea, found in South Chungcheong Province, May 29, in this photo provided by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Some 90 such balloons have been discovered so far, according to military and police sources, adding that they contained trash and other waste. Yonhap

North Korea is once again sending balloons presumed to be carrying trash to South Korea on Saturday, Seoul's military said, after it launched nearly 1,000 similar balloons across the border since last week.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff advised people not to touch the objects and report them to nearby military or police authorities, and cautioned of possible damage from the balloons, adding the balloons may move southward overnight due to a change in the direction of the wind.

Since May 28, North Korea has sent the trash-loaded balloons across the border into South Korea, which it described as a "tit-for-tat" response to anti-Pyongyang leafleting.

The North announced it would temporarily suspend the balloon campaign after Seoul warned of "unendurable" countermeasures, but threatened to send "a hundred times the amount of toilet paper and filth" in response to any further leafleting from the South.

Despite the threats, North Korean defector groups have continued their anti-regime campaigns on Thursday and Friday. (Yonhap)