North Korea Sends Trash-Filled Balloons Amid Rising Tensions, Kim's Sister Issues Warning: North Korea continued its provocative balloon launches across the border into South Korea, deploying hundreds more balloons carrying trash, South Korea's military confirmed on Monday. This escalation follows a stern warning from Kim Jong Un's sister, Kim Yo Jong, threatening new actions if the South does not cease its "psychological warfare."

In recent weeks, North Korea has been retaliating against the South's activists who send anti-Pyongyang propaganda into the North via balloons. These balloons, carrying items like leaflets and USB drives, have been a source of tension, prompting the South Korean government to restart loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts along the border and suspend a 2018 military agreement aimed at reducing tensions.

The North Korean regime, through Kim Yo Jong, criticized these balloons as "psychological warfare" and warned of further actions unless Seoul halts the activity. She stated, "If the ROK simultaneously carries out the leaflet scattering and loudspeaker broadcasting provocation over the border, it will undoubtedly witness the new counteraction of the DPRK," using the official names of the two countries.

Overnight, Seoul's military reported that North Korea had sent around 310 trash-laden balloons, with no further balloons detected in the air by Monday morning. According to Yonhap news agency, the balloons contained scrap paper and plastic, with no toxic materials detected so far.

Commenting on Kim's statement, Kim Dong-yub, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, suggested that North Korea is attempting to shift blame and justify its provocations. He warned of a potential escalation, saying, "It is likely that the cycle of escalation will continue and North Korea will do something beyond our imagination."

The recent balloon launches began in mid-May when South Korean activists, including North Korean defectors, sent propaganda and K-pop music northward. In response, North Korea has sent over a thousand balloons carrying garbage into the South, which Seoul has condemned as "low class" and a violation of the armistice agreement.

The broadcasts, a tactic dating back to the Korean War, have been a longstanding point of contention, with Pyongyang previously threatening artillery strikes against the loudspeaker units.

In 2018, during a period of improved inter-Korean relations, the leaders of the two Koreas agreed to "completely cease all hostile acts," including stopping the leaflets and broadcasts. However, the South Korean parliament's law criminalizing the sending of leaflets was struck down last year by the Constitutional Court, citing an undue limitation on free speech.

The situation remains tense, with observers concerned about further escalations between the two Koreas.

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