No birds, no planes, no drones. Residents of much of South Korea have found helium balloons when they look into the sky, especially downwind from the north. According to the information they have in Seoul, hundreds of balloons with plastic bags tied with strings are coming from Jim Jong-un’s country. As if the sight wasn’t striking enough, the real surprise came when stock markets opened in South Korea. Garbage was found inside. And some other assholes.

The sight is crazy, but there’s little that’s funny: fecal balloons have caused numerous clashes between Seoul and Pyongyang.

A bird or a plane…? No, what just flew over South Korea were balloons with bags. Hundreds of them. Guardian About 150 people are mentioned, but the Reuters agency assures that more than 260 were counted, and a significant number of them fell to the ground after flying over the heads of depressed South Koreans. It is estimated that balloons appeared in almost all provinces of the country. Some even reached Gyeongsang in the southeastern region of the peninsula. In Seoul, they seem clear about its origin: North Korea.

So what’s in the bags? It is not very common to see a parade with 260 balloons flying over a country; But this is not the most curious thing in this case. The real surprise came as the devices began landing in the fields and streets of South Korea and residents peeked into the bags. Inside, they found garbage such as used plastic bottles, old batteries, remnants of shoes, as well as manure and, in some cases, animal feces.

This was reported by the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and Yonhap news agency. You don’t need to imagine this. Authorities and individuals have released numerous photos showing balloons and their contents spilling onto the asphalt. Even the word “feces” could be read on one of the bags.

A bad taste joke? South Korean officials did not seem to. As Reuters reported, the mysterious bagged balloons activated the military’s explosives unit and response team against chemical and biological threats. Everything from inspecting and collecting bags. To avoid risks, authorities also decided to warn the public and ask them two things: first, to report sightings; The second was that they did not approach any of those white balloons and of course did not touch them.

The BBC said late Tuesday that residents of northern Seoul and the border area had received messages from provincial authorities asking them not to participate in outdoor activities. Photos released by the South Korean military and circulating online in recent hours show what appear to be bags filled with garbage, dirt and paper.

So who sent them? There is little doubt in Seoul. They look north to Pyongyang, which they accuse of sending balloons. While an official from the presidential office did not hesitate to talk about “psychological warfare” to Reuters, Yonha repeated JCS’s statements in the last few hours, warning about the seriousness of the incident and pointing to North Korea.

“These actions by North Korea clearly violate international law and seriously threaten the security of our people.” Therefore, the South Korean authority warned the northern government led by Kim Jong-un to “immediately stop” what it described as “inhumane and crude actions”.

What is the context? What just happened in South Korea is best understood with context. The first is that the use of balloons is not new. Both countries, the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic, have used them for propaganda campaigns since the mid-20th century. Second, the incident in the last few hours comes just days after Pyongyang complained that southern activists “frequently” distribute “pamphlets and other garbage” at the border, alluding to anti-North Korea leaflets.

On Sunday, North Korean Deputy Defense Minister Kim Kang Il even issued a warning that now looks almost like a statement of intent after the balloons were deployed over South Korea: “Heaps of used paper and garbage will soon be scattered around” border areas and interior of the Republic of Korea; You will experience how much effort it takes to eliminate them.

First time? No. You don’t have to go far back to find other cases. In 2018, the two Koreas engaged in a bizarre “balloon war” with helium devices flying from one side of the border to the other with propaganda leaflets without going any further. In addition to sending leaflets critical of Kim Jong-un’s regime, South Korean activists also sent USB drives containing documents banned in the north.

They even sent surgical masks, painkillers and vitamins during the pandemic period. There are even those who choose to throw plastic bottles into the Yellow Sea in the hope that they will fall on the beach on the other side of the border. In 2020, South Korean authorities passed a law criminalizing the distribution of leaflets against Kim Jong-un’s regime, but this rule was eventually rescinded.

Image | Ryan Chan (Flickr)

in Xataka | There is one word that determines the fate of every North Korean before they are born: Songbun