Kim Jong Un drops hundreds of balloons filled with faeces and trash onto South Korea in retaliation for propaganda leaflets scattered over North Korea 'which require effort to clean up'

Kim Jong Un has dropped at least 260 white balloons filled with 'filthy waste and trash' onto South Korea, as North Korea officials aim to teach them a lesson in the midst of a never-ending propaganda war. 

The balloons appeared to have been carrying various items of rubbish, including plastic bottles, batteries, toilet paper and what is believed to be manure, an official of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

Authorities have urged South Korean residents to stay indoors as a result after the balloons began to fall from the sky late on Tuesday.   

South Korea's military said unidentified objects had been spotted near the demilitarised zone – the heavily fortified border which separates the two Koreas.

The balloons, which were found in eight of nine provinces in South Korea are now being analysed and investigated to see whether they contained any North Korean propaganda, BBC reported. 

A balloon believed to have been sent by North Korea, carrying various objects including what appeared to be trash and excrement, is seen over a rice field at Cheorwon, South Korea on Wednesday.

South Korean soldiers collect balloons presumably sent by North Korea, found at a hill in Pyeongtaek on Wednesday. Some 200 such balloons have been discovered nationwide so far, military and police sources said, adding that they contained mostly trash and other waste.

Image shows unidentified objects believed to be North Korean propaganda material attached to balloons on a street in Chungnam Province.

This comes just days after Kim Kang-il, a North Korean defence vice-minister, warned that the regime would retaliate in response to anti-North Korean leaflets flown across the border by South Korean activists. 

'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,' Kang Il said in a statement to state media on Sunday. 

Republic of Korea, or ROK, is the official name of South Korea.

Seoul's JCS added that the North's actions 'clearly violate international laws and seriously threaten the safety of our people.'

'We sternly warn the North to immediately stop its inhumane and low-class actions'.

Image hows trash from a balloon presumably sent by North Korea, in Seoul on Wednesday.

In another sign of tensions between the war-divided rivals, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said North Korea also has been flying large numbers of balloons carrying trash toward the South since Tuesday night, in an apparent retaliation against South Korean activists for flying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border.

South Korean media shared images which showed rubbish bags tied to large white balloons gloating over fields and roads, as well as the aftermath of landings, where what appeared to be faeces had exploded on the ground.  

North and South Korea have historically used balloons in their propaganda campaigns since the Korean War in the 1950's.

North Korean defectors have been known to send balloons to the North side containing anti-regime leaflets, and have also reportedly sent USB memory sticks of Korean pop music and videos, which are prohibited in North Korea's communist regime. 

Seoul's parliament passed a law in December 2020 that banned the launch of anti-Pyongyang leaflets.

This comes after Kim Jong Un's latest satellite launch ended in failure on Monday after a video shared by South Korea claimed to show the moment the satellite, attached to a pointed white rocket, exploded shortly after takeoff. 

North Korea admitted the launch had exploded in a fireball before dropping into the Yellow Sea just minutes after lifting off. 

The launch, pegged by analysts as a significant step in the nuclear-armed country's race for space nonetheless, was the latest attempt since North Korea placed its first spy satellite in orbit in November.