Trash Carried by NKorean Balloon Again Falls on Presidential Compound in Seoul

A propaganda leaflet believed to be from North Korea is seen on the ground prior to a welcoming ceremony for Poland's President Andrzej Duda at the Presidential Office in Seoul on October 24, 2024. (Photo by JEON HEON-KYUN / POOL / AFP)

Trash carried by a North Korean balloon fell on the presidential compound in central Seoul on Thursday in a second case raising concerns about the vulnerability of key South Korean sites during potential North Korean aggression.
The incident comes after the rival Koreas ramped up threats and rhetoric against each other over North Korea’s claims that South Korea flew drones over its capital Pyongyang to scatter propaganda leaflets this month, The Associated Press reported.
No dangerous items were found in the rubbish that was dropped on the ground when one of the North Korean balloons burst over the South Korean presidential compound on Thursday morning, South Korea’s presidential security service said in a statement.
North Korea has sent thousands of balloons carrying bags of rubbish like plastic and paper waste into South Korea since late May in a resumption of a Cold War-style psychological campaign. The trash that fell on the South Korean presidential compound in July contained no hazardous materials as well.
It wasn’t immediately known whether South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was at the compound during the latest incident. Later Thursday, he met visiting Polish President Andrzej Duda at his office.
South Korean media reported that North Korean leaflets criticizing Yoon and his wife Kim Keon Hee were found on Thursday in Seoul's Yongsan district, where Yoon’s presidential office is located. Media published photos of some leaflets that described Kim as a latter-day Marie Antoinette, the queen who was beheaded in 1793 during the French Revolution.
The reports said it was the first time that North Korean propaganda leaflets have been found in South Korea since the North began its balloon campaign five months ago.
The South Korean presidential security service didn't confirm the reports. But South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff later urged North Korea to stop flying “crude leaflets” slandering the South’s president, warning that Pyongyang will be entirely responsible for any consequences.