After Kim Jong Un Pauses Trash-Filled Balloons, North Korean Defectors Float K-Pop Balloons Over Border In Retaliation

In a defiant act, a group of North Korean defectors in Seoul launched large balloons filled with K-pop and South Korean cultural content across the border. This move comes as a retaliation for the trash-filled balloons sent by Kim Jong Un‘s North Korea.

What Happened: The Fighters for Free North Korea, a defector group, released balloons carrying K-pop, anti-Kim regime leaflets, and U.S. dollar bills on Thursday, The Korea Herald reported on Thursday. They justified their action as a response to the trash-filled balloons dropped by North Korea, which they considered an insult to the South Korean people.

The balloons, which included removable drives containing South Korean popular culture content, are said to have reached North Korean airspace. The Joint Chiefs of Staff in South Korea are closely monitoring Pyongyang’s reaction.

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President Yoon Suk Yeol condemned North Korea’s trash balloon provocation, describing it as “a despicable act that would shame any normal country” during a Memorial Day ceremony.

In the wake of the recent tensions, South Korea has taken steps to suspend the Sep. 19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement. This agreement, designed to reduce front-line tensions, is now temporarily void.

Why It Matters: The launch of the K-pop balloons is the latest development in the ongoing tensions between North and South Korea. This incident follows a series of provocative actions by North Korea, including the launch of 18 short-range ballistic missiles on May 31, as a show of force against the South.

These tensions seemed to have eased when North Korea announced a halt to the balloon launches on June 3. However, the recent K-pop balloon launch indicates that the situation remains volatile. The suspension of the Inter-Korean Military Agreement further underscores the escalating tensions between the two nations.

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Photo via Shutterstock.

This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari