North Korea's trash balloons disrupt South's airport operations

ANKARA

North Korean trash balloons have disrupted operations at South Korea's main airport several times in the past two months, local media reported on Tuesday.

According to official data from the Seoul Regional Aviation Administration, submitted to Rep. Yang Bu-nam of the main opposition Democratic Party, operations at Incheon International Airport, the South's primary gateway, were disrupted on 12 occasions, Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency reported.

On June 1, four days after North Korea began launching the balloons, the airport was shut down for approximately an hour. Severe disruptions occurred later, and on June 26, the airport was closed, halting takeoffs and landings for 166 minutes.

"North Korea's trash balloons have not only landed within the premises of the presidential office but have also had a broad impact on the operations of Incheon International Airport and flights," Yang said, according to the agency.

The country's intelligence agency reported that in the past two months, North Korea sent approximately 3,600 trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea.

Last month, South Korea claimed that Pyongyang had resumed air-dropping trash after Seoul resumed propaganda broadcasts over loudspeakers following a six-year hiatus.

Pyongyang described its actions as a "tit-for-tat" response to anti-regime leaflets flown into North Korea from South Korea.

Earlier, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's sister, Kim Yo-jong, warned that Pyongyang would employ "new responses" to Seoul's leaflets and loudspeaker broadcasts.

She called Seoul's actions a "prelude to a very dangerous situation."

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid