North Korea's Filth Balloon Falls on Rooftop and Ignites 'Blazing' Fire...Suspected of Containing Abnormal Substance

Fire Occurs in North Korea's Sewage Balloon
Balloon Transferred to Military; Cause of Fire Under Investigation

A fire broke out after a trash balloon (filth balloon) released by North Korea landed on the rooftop of a multi-family house in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province.

A balloon filled with waste that fell in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi-do caught fire.
[Photo by Gyeonggi-do Northern Fire and Disaster Headquarters]

At around 2:36 p.m. on the 24th, a report was received that an object presumed to be a filth balloon from North Korea exploded in a multi-family residential area in Deogyang-gu, Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province, causing flames and smoke on the villa rooftop. The fire department deployed 11 pieces of equipment and 28 personnel to extinguish the fire in about 25 minutes. There were no casualties, but the paper inside the balloon burned, leaving soot on the rooftop wall. Police and fire authorities are controlling the scene, handing over the filth balloon object to the military, and investigating the cause and circumstances of the fire.

The image shows a trash balloon sent by North Korea catching fire.
[Photo by Incheon Fire Headquarters]

This is not the first time a fire has broken out from a filth balloon sent by North Korea to South Korea. On the 10th of last month, after receiving a report that a filth balloon had fallen in the area of Hajeom-myeon, Ganghwa-mun, Incheon, firefighters who responded saw pieces of waste paper spilled on the road on fire. A fire department official stated, "It has not been determined why the waste paper from the filth balloon caught fire," and said the cause is under investigation.

On the 9th of the same month, a post appeared on the social networking service (SNS) "Delivered on behalf of the Army Training Center (Yukdaejeon)" stating, "There is a report that a neurotoxin was found in the filth balloon released by North Korea to South Korea, and we are verifying it." However, this information was found to be false. A Joint Chiefs of Staff official denied it, saying, "There was a false detection in the first stage of our military detecting the filth balloon released by North Korea," and "The term 'neurotoxin' was used during the transmission process among staff, and it seems this information was reported to Yukdaejeon."