South Korea responds to North's trash balloons with loudspeaker broadcasts

North Korea on Sunday floated balloons carrying trash towards South Korea, South Korea's military said, declaring it would respond with "full-scale" loudspeaker broadcasts, News.Az reports citing Reuters.

The South Korean military said the North's actions raising tensions near the heavily armed border could have fatal consequences, adding the North Korean regime would be solely responsible.

"As we warned several times, the military will carry out loudspeaker broadcasts in full scale and on all fronts starting 1 p.m. today," the South's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, calling the North's launch of balloons vulgar and shameful.

Activists and defectors in South Korea have for years sent their own balloons carrying propaganda leaflets and other items into North Korea, angering Pyongyang.

Earlier this week, South Korea's military decided to resume its round-the-clock loudspeaker broadcast campaign targeting North Korea in response to what it called the despicable launch of balloons by Pyongyang carrying trash across the border.

Since May, North Korea has been floating thousands of balloons with bags of trash attached to them, which have become a new source of tension between the two Koreas.

News.Az