North Korea flies feces filled balloons to South in ‘tit-for-tat’ attack

North Korea has sent hundreds of balloons loaded with rubbish and faeces across the heavily fortified border to the South.

The South Korean military released photos on Wednesday, some showing rubbish strewn around collapsed balloons, with the word “excrement” written on a bag in one photograph. The North said that the swarm, containing toilet paper and suspected animal faeces, was a response to South Korean propaganda campaigns using balloons.

“We sternly warn the North to immediately stop its inhumane and low-class actions,” said Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. “The North’s actions “clearly violate international laws and seriously threaten the safety of our people,” it added.

The military’s explosives ordnance unit and chemical and biological warfare response team were deployed to inspect and collect the objects, and an alert was issued warning residents to keep away and report any sightings to authorities.

The South Korean authorities had received prior warning of the attack. Kim Kang Il, the North’s vice minister of defence, issued a statement on Sunday warning that “mounds of wastepaper and filth” would be sent to the South as “tit-for-tat action” in response to the flying of “dirty things” to the North.

South Korean activists, often led by North Korean defectors, have regularly sent balloons carrying leaflets with messages critical of Pyongyang and even USB memory sticks with K-pop music videos the other way.