North Korea, which warned of '100-fold retaliation,' has launched sewage balloons again

JCS "North Korea floats filth balloons... Report, do not engage"
North Korea "Responds with concentrated spraying of hundredfold toilet paper and filth"
Military considering reactivation of loudspeakers, 'asymmetric psychological warfare weapons'

North Korea appears to have resumed launching filth balloons toward South Korea. Given that North Korea had warned of "100-fold retaliation" if leaflets sent from the South were found again, this is interpreted as a backlash against additional leaflet distribution by civilian groups. Our government has stated that it will take a strong response, including the full reactivation of loudspeakers aimed at North Korea, if North Korea engages in provocations such as launching filth balloons.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced in a message sent to the press corps around 11 p.m. on the 8th, "North Korea is once again launching balloons toward the South."

Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of North Korea

A Joint Chiefs of Staff official said, "Currently, the wind direction is southwesterly, moving from northern Gyeonggi Province toward the eastern region, and the forecast predicts a northwesterly wind during the night, which could carry the balloons southward," "We ask the public to be cautious of falling payloads, and if you find any fallen balloons, please do not touch them and report to the nearest military unit or police station."

The balloons recently launched by North Korea are likely to have plastic bags containing filth and excrement, as before. North Korea had previously launched filth balloons twice, on the 28th-29th of last month and the 1st-2nd of this month, using the leaflet distribution by South Korean civilian groups as a pretext.

Subsequently, on the night of the 2nd, through a statement issued under the name of Kim Kang-il, Vice Minister of the Ministry of National Defense, North Korea declared, "We have given South Koreans sufficient experience of how disgusting and labor-intensive it is to pick up the scattered paper scraps," and announced a temporary suspension of filth balloon launches. However, it added a threat that if leaflets are found again, it would respond by intensively distributing "a hundred times the amount of paper scraps and filth."

Contents of North Korea's anti-South Korea balloon found on the 2nd in Majang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul. [Photo by Joint Chiefs of Staff]

South Korean groups sent large balloons containing leaflets, K-POP and trot music by Lim Young-woong stored on USB drives, and dollars to North Korea on the 6th and 7th, respectively. Although there were concerns about additional clashes between the two Koreas due to leaflet distribution, the government maintained its policy to prioritize "freedom of expression" in accordance with the Constitutional Court's ruling that the Anti-Leaflet Act is unconstitutional.

With North Korea resuming provocations, attention is focused on what countermeasures our government will take, such as reactivating loudspeakers. On the 4th, the government fully suspended the effectiveness of the September 19 military agreement. This means that not only can loudspeakers, which North Korea is most sensitive about, be reactivated, but live-fire exercises and outdoor maneuver training near the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) are also possible. The military authorities have conveyed that loudspeakers will be immediately installed and operated at the front line in response to North Korea's provocations. Regarding "mobile loudspeakers," the military explained that they can be operated anytime in locations connected by roads.