North Korean Waste Balloons Dropped Inside Yongsan Presidential Office Building... "No Danger"

Presidential Office, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

On the morning of the 24th, a 'filth balloon' dispersed by North Korea was found to have fallen inside the Presidential Office building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.

According to the Presidential Office, the Security Office, together with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was monitoring the South Korea-bound filth balloons dispersed by North Korea when they identified debris falling around the Yongsan Presidential Office building.

Earlier, the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated that North Korea had again dispersed filth balloons toward South Korea that morning and that they were "moving toward the northern Gyeonggi region."

While filth balloons have been found near Yongsan before, this is the first time one has entered and fallen inside the Presidential Office building.

The Security Office explained, "The Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) response team confirmed that the object posed no danger or contamination and collected it," adding, "We are continuing to monitor in cooperation with the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

Recently, the South and North have been confronting each other by exchanging filth balloons and loudspeaker broadcasts.

After North Korea dispersed balloons on the 18th, our military partially operated loudspeakers, and in response, North Korea released balloons again on the morning of the 21st.

The military announced a full-scale operation of loudspeakers that afternoon and has continued broadcasting since, while North Korea resumed dispersing filth balloons.