S. Korea’s military vows stern action against North Korea’s trash balloons

Sep 24, 2024, 04:06 am

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South Korean soldiers examine various objects of trash from a balloon believed to have been sent by North Korea, in Incheon, South Korea, on September 3, 2024./ Source: Yonhap News

AsiaToday reporter Lee Seok-jong

South Korea’s military warned North Korea that it could launch military measures in response to Pyongyang’s provocations with trash balloons. The presidential office predicted that the North could conduct its seventh nuclear test before or after the U.S. presidential election. The series of North Korean provocations involving trash balloons and nuclear tests are raising military tensions between the two Koreas.

“Our military will take stern military measures if North Korea cross the line with its ongoing trash balloon campaign or inflict serious damage to the South Korean people,” Lee Sung-joon, a spokesperson for South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Monday.

This is the first time that the military has mentioned a military response against North Korean provocation of trash balloons. It is believed that the move came after takeoffs and landings at Incheon International Airport were suspended due to the North Korean balloons and several fires have been reported in metropolitan areas caused by heat timers attached to the balloons. The military response is expected to be considered in the event of a more serous situation that the current one, such as direct casualties caused by the North Korean trash balloons.

“It is a message issued given that North Korea’s gray zone provocations are extending into the long term, and causing inconvenience and anxiety among the public,” Lee told a regular press briefing, adding “corresponding measures” could be taken should North Korea’s trash balloons cause damage. He then hinted at taking military action, saying, “There are trash balloons falling at Incheon International Airport and Gimpo International Airport, and such is a more dangerous act.”

National Security Adviser (NSA) Shin Won-sik said in a TV broadcast that North Korea needs several more nuclear tests to miniaturize nuclear weapons, and that the North can conduct its seventh nuclear test anytime if Kim Jong-un decides. “The timing of a nuclear test will be determined by considering the North’s strategic advantages and disadvantages,” he said. “South Korea and the U.S. are closely tracking whether the North will conduct a nuclear test or not.” Regarding the North’s disclosure of its uranium enrichment facilities, he said, “We analyze that it is aimed at attracting internal and external attention by highlighting the North’s nuclear threat in the fact of the U.S. presidential election.”

#trash balloon #North Korea #JCS #South Korea