North Korea’s New Threat: Balloons, Missiles, and Noise Pollution—What’s Behind the Escalation?

Since late July, North Korea has shifted its focus from disaster recovery following severe flooding to a series of new provocations.

Amidst ongoing balloon drops and missile tests, residents in border areas are grappling with disruptions caused by noise pollution from the North.

South Korea’s military authorities confirmed North Korea carried out its 18th balloon drop of the year the previous day. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) reported that “our military identified North Korea launching over 20 garbage balloons at night,” adding, “most of them moved north of the Military Demarcation Line, and none are currently detected in the air.”

Earlier this month, North Korea launched balloons six times over five days, pausing briefly on Monday and Tuesday before resuming the Wednesday night activity. While North Korea usually releases around 200 balloons at a time, recent launches have been affected by wind conditions and other factors.

North Korea also fired several short-range ballistic missiles from the Pyongyang area on Thursday morning. These missiles flew approximately 360 kilometers (about 224 miles) before landing in the East Sea.

The JCS confirmed that they “immediately detected and tracked the North Korean missile launches” and are “sharing relevant information with the U.S. and Japan while analyzing the details.”

Meanwhile, noise pollution generated by North Korea has become a significant issue for residents in the front-line areas. Locals report difficulties in farming due to persistent mechanical sounds resembling beeping.

Despite these provocations, military authorities believe it is too early to assess this as a “complex provocation.” They explained that the balloon launches serve as a countermeasure to the leaflet drops by South Korean civilian organizations. In contrast, the missile launches may be a reaction to military exercises taking place in South Korea.

During a regular briefing at the Ministry of Defense, Lee Sung Jun of the JCS’s Public Affairs Office said the number of garbage balloons launched the previous night was smaller than usual. He added, “It is a bit early to evaluate the short-range ballistic missile launches today as being directly related or as a complex provocation.”

He commented that the balloons were likely launched despite unfavorable wind conditions and noted that North Korea had previously announced that these launches were intended to respond to leaflet drops from the South.

Lee further added that the missile launches could be a response to the U.S.-South Korea joint exercises or a test aimed at exporting to Russia.