South Korean Officials have confirmed that balloons launched by North Korea in the early Thursday morning landed near the Presidential Office in Yongsan, Seoul.
The Presidential Security Service issued a statement saying, “We identified trash scattered around the Yongsan office area after North Korean balloons burst in the air during the early morning hours. After a safety inspection, it was confirmed that there were no hazardous or contaminating substances. We collected the debris and continue monitoring the situation in coordination with the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).”
The incident occurs ahead of a scheduled South Korea-Poland summit at the Presidential Office. At that summit, President Yoon Suk Yeol will meet Polish President Andrzej Duda, who is on a state visit to South Korea. President Duda’s official schedule begins at 1 PM.
The JCS reported that North Korea launched another object, believed to be a balloon targeting South Korea, around 2:30 AM. This marks the 30th incident this year, five days after the previous launch on Saturday.
The balloons that landed near the Yongsan area carried leaflets that included harsh criticism of Yoon and the First Lady. The propaganda also made exaggerated claims, such as asserting that a division’s worth of people in South Korea commits suicide annually, and posed the question, “Who are the real killers?” Some leaflets warned of the devastating consequences of war, claiming that no living creature could survive within a 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) radius of a nuclear strike.
The North Korean balloons reportedly drifted over the Yongsan district of Seoul after 2 AM, dropping leaflets multiple times as they burst. There is speculation that North Korea deliberately targeted the Yongsan district.
Recent reports suggest North Korea has equipped their balloons with GPS devices to improve landing accuracy, supporting the theory that this launch may have been a highly planned action aimed at a specific target.
This is the first time since May 2024 that North Korea has included direct criticism of the South Korean government and the presidential couple in their balloon-borne leaflets.
The recent discovery of a drone carrying anti-Kim Jong Un leaflets in Pyongyang may have prompted this action from North Korea.
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