After Receiving 'Choco Pie', North Korea Reacts Angrily... Resumes Balloon Dropping of Waste Materials

Resumption of 'Trash Scattering' After Critical Remarks
Kim Yo-jong: "Trash Will Pay the Price"

North Korea has once again released 'trash balloons' toward the South. This action came immediately after a denunciation statement by Kim Yo-jong, the Deputy Director of the Workers' Party, condemning the leaflets sent to the North, and is interpreted as a form of 'retaliation.'

Photo released on the 17th by the Korean Central News Agency along with a statement from Kim Yo-jong, Deputy Department Director of the Workers' Party. Deputy Director Kim claimed, "On the 16th, various political propaganda leaflets and items were dropped near the North Korean border and in the interior regions." Photo by Yonhap News.

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the 18th, North Korea released an object presumed to be a trash balloon toward the South at around 2:48 a.m. that day. Considering the wind direction, military authorities warned that the balloons might move toward the Seoul metropolitan area, urging caution regarding the falling payloads and requesting that any balloon sightings be reported to military units or the police.

This is the first time in three weeks since May 24 that North Korea has released trash balloons. Counting from the end of May this year, it is the thirty-first release. The timing of this trash balloon release, occurring immediately after the retaliatory statement by Kim Yo-jong, sister of State Affairs Commission Chairman Kim Jong-un, is interpreted as a form of 'retaliation' against the leaflet distribution.

In the statement released the previous day, Kim Yo-jong said that on the 16th, "various politically provocative leaflets and items" fell near the border, and strongly condemned "the despicable and lowly acts of the South Korean scoundrels who ignored our repeated warnings and provocatively carried out the distribution of anti-Republic political slander materials." She added, "Our people's anger has reached the sky's end," and threatened, "The trash will pay the price."

The photos released by North Korea showed paper leaflets, snacks, medicines, and children's nutritional supplements.