SEOUL, May 29, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - North Korea dropped suspected anti-South
Korean "propaganda" into border areas overnight, Seoul's military told AFP on
Wednesday, with one province issuing an alert asking residents to stay
indoors.

Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said that "unidentified objects believed to be
North Korean propaganda leaflets have been identified in the Gyeonggi-Gangwon
border area and the military is taking action".

"Citizens should refrain from outdoor activities, do not come into contact
with any unknown objects, and report them to the nearest military base or
police," it said in a statement sent to AFP.

Late Tuesday night, Gyeonggi province issued a text message alert to
residents.

"Refrain from outdoor activities and report (objects from North Korea) to
military bases when identified," it said in the message.

Since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, the two Koreas remain
technically at war and are separated by a heavily fortified border including
the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ).

South Korean activists sometimes release balloons carrying anti-Kim Jong Un
regime propaganda leaflets and money intended for people living north of the
border.

Pyongyang has long been infuriated by such propaganda campaigns, possibly due
to concerns that an influx of outside information in the tightly controlled
society could pose a threat to the Kim regime.

On Sunday, North Korea warned it would retaliate in a statement carried by
the official Korean Central News Agency.

"Tit-for-tat action will be also taken against frequent scattering of
leaflets and other rubbish by the ROK near border areas," Kim Kang Il, a
vice-minister of defence, said in the statement, using the acronym for South
Korea's official name.

"Mounds of wastepaper and filth will soon be scattered over the border areas
and the interior of the ROK and it will directly experience how much effort
is required to remove them," Kim said.

- 'Toilet paper, trash' -

North Korea has sent propaganda balloons across the border before, in 2016
for example, but their approach is a bit different this time, Cheong Seong-
chang of the Sejong Institute told AFP.

"Bags filled with toilet paper, trash and Chinese batteries were found," he
said.

"Also from witness statements that there was a 'distinctive smell' from the
bag, it is likely they sent faeces, probably animal faeces, as well," he
added.

Local media reports carried photographs purportedly showing balloons carrying
bags of what appeared to be trash.

"It's a stern message to South Korea that like the South, North Korea can
send propaganda as well, and they should immediately stop doing it," Cheong
said.

"The border will be strongly controlled after this," he added.

North Korea on Monday attempted to put a second spy satellite into orbit, but
the launch ended in a mid-air explosion.

Seoul has slammed the launch, and conducted drills with fighter jets in
protest, after Pyongyang informed Tokyo of the pending launch window earlier
this week.

North Korea's Kim said that Seoul's response was "recklessness" according to
a KCNA report Wednesday.

Kim said "the present situation requires further bolstering up the war
deterrence in every way and steadily developing the DPRK's armed forces into
an entity of super-powerful and absolute strength," the report said.