SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — At least one North Korean balloons A bomb fell on South Korea’s presidential palace on Wednesday, raising concerns about the security of key South Korean facilities in the wake of North Korean provocations.
South Korea’s Presidential Security Bureau said the debris that fell on the facility in central Seoul did not contain any dangerous materials and no one was injured. Although North Korea likely does not have the advanced technology to drop balloons on specific targets, some experts say that future operations may contain dangerous materials, so South Korea should shoot down North Korean balloons to protect key facilities, even if it means increased tensions or damage on the ground.
North Korea’s latest balloon launch came just days after the incident. South Korea gives boost They broadcast K-pop songs and propaganda messages to the front lines across the heavily armed borders of enemy countries. Cold War-inspired campaign Tensions are rising as rival countries threaten stronger measures and warn of serious consequences.
Officials in Seoul have previously said North Korea was using wind direction to send balloons towards South Korea, but some past balloons appear to have been equipped with timers to pop garbage bags in mid-air. Security officials did not provide further details about the trash found at the presidential residence. They did not say whether President Yun Seok-yol was at the residence when the North Korean balloon flew over the Oval Office.
South Korea would undoubtedly respond strongly if it were found that North Korea had deliberately dumped trash at the Blue House using a timer or other device, but experts say dropping balloons on ground targets requires advanced technology that North Korea certainly does not possess.
“Some of the (hundreds of balloons) launched by North Korea accidentally landed at the presidential palace. North Korea does not have the technology to accurately drop balloons on specific targets,” said Jeong Chang-wook, president of the Korea Forum for Defense Studies, a Seoul-based think tank.
Jeong said that North Korea does not possess balloons that would need to be equipped with GPS navigation devices and power systems to land in a specific location, and that after calculating factors such as the weight of the garbage bags tied to the balloon, the amount of air in the balloon, and weather conditions, he said it was likely that North Korea wanted to land the balloon in Seoul, about an hour’s drive from the border.
Lee Il-woo, an expert at South Korea’s Korea Defense Network, said strong winds in Seoul would also make it impossible for North Korea to target specific locations with balloons.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said on Wednesday that North Korea had resumed balloon launches over the border, marking the 10th such launch since late May.
More than 2,000 North Korean balloons have been found in South Korea in the past few weeks, loaded with waste paper, rags, cigarette butts and even fertilizer. South Korean activist They use their own balloons to drop political leaflets across borders.
North Korean balloons have not caused any major damage, but they have raised safety concerns among those worried that North Korea could use them to drop chemical or biological weapons. South Korea has avoided firing at the balloons due to concerns about damage and the possibility that they may contain dangerous materials.
Lee, the expert, said South Korea should attack North Korean balloons in border areas because it would be too risky to attack them over densely populated Seoul if they contained dangerous materials like biological weapons. Chung said South Korea could use recently developed laser weapons to intercept North Korean balloons.
Experts say North Korea sees South Korea’s private leafleting activities as a major threat to its efforts to block the inflow of foreign news and maintain its dictatorial rule. In past violent reactions to South Korea’s leafleting efforts, North Korea has Destroyed an empty liaison office built by South Korea It invaded its territory in 2020 and fired at an incoming balloon in 2014.
South Korea said on Sunday it would step up its anti-North Korea stance. Propaganda Broadcasts As North Korea continues to launch balloons carrying trash, the South Korean government has issued warnings over loudspeakers at key points along the land border. The loudspeaker broadcast resumed. This was the first such attack in about 40 days and was in retaliation for North Korea’s previous balloon activities.
Observers say South Korean propaganda broadcasts can undermine morale among North Korea’s frontline troops and civilians. In 2015, North Korea was so enraged by the resumption of South Korean propaganda broadcasts that it fired artillery shells across the border, prompting South Korea to retaliate.
South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesman Lee Seong-jun said the current South Korean broadcasts included K-pop songs and news about South Korea’s economic development. South Korean media reported that the broadcasts also included news about recent South Korean defections. North Korean senior diplomat and, Burying landmines North Korean soldiers are forced to live a “hellish, slave-like life” on the border.
South Korea has an estimated 40 loudspeakers, including 24 fixed and 16 mobile. The South Korean military said Monday it was fully operational with the fixed loudspeakers and planned to use the mobile ones as well.
South Korea’s military has warned that it will take further concrete measures if North Korea continues its balloon attacks. North Korea has not issued an official response to South Korea’s propaganda broadcasts, but last week Kim Yo-jong, North Korea’s powerful Premier Li Keqiang, sister of supreme leader Kim Jong Un, has warned of new measures to counter leafleting by South Korean civilians and said South Korean “scum” must be prepared to pay a “terrible high price” for their actions.
