South Korea Threatens to Revive Anti-North Korea Propaganda Broadcasts Amid Trash Balloon Exchange

South Korea has threatened to resume anti-North Korea propaganda broadcasts along the border after Pyongyang launched balloons carrying trash in retaliation for South Korean activists sending political leaflets. North Korea has launched over 350 balloons into South Korea in multiple campaigns, sparking tensions between the rivals.

Seoul has threatened to reinstate anti-North Korea frontline propaganda broadcasts in the latest escalation of Cold War-style campaigns between the two rivals. The move comes after North Korea resumed its trash-carrying balloon launches across the border.

North Korea launched balloons with plastic bags of rubbish on Monday night, the fifth such campaign since late May. The launches are an apparent response to South Korean activists flying political leaflets via balloons.

South Korea Threatens to Revive Anti-North Korea Propaganda Broadcasts Amid Trash Balloon Exchange

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol condemned North Korea's balloon activities as "a despicable and irrational provocation" in a speech marking a Korean War anniversary on Tuesday. He emphasized that South Korea would maintain firm military readiness to counter North Korean provocations.

Later Tuesday, President Yoon boarded a visiting U.S. aircraft carrier docked at a southeastern port and addressed American and South Korean troops, emphasizing the strength of the alliance. Yoon became the first sitting South Korean president to board a U.S. aircraft carrier since 1994.

South Korea Threatens to Revive Anti-North Korea Propaganda Broadcasts Amid Trash Balloon Exchange

South Korea's military reported that North Korea launched approximately 350 balloons, with about 100 landing in Seoul and nearby areas. The trash carried by the balloons was mostly paper, and no hazardous items were found.

In earlier balloon launches, North Korea dropped manure, cigarette butts, and waste batteries along with cloth scraps and waste paper in South Korea. No major damage was reported.

South Korea Threatens to Revive Anti-North Korea Propaganda Broadcasts Amid Trash Balloon Exchange

In response, South Korea redeployed gigantic loudspeakers on June 9 along the border for the first time in six years and briefly resumed anti-North Korean propaganda broadcasts.

Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung Joon stated that the South Korean military is prepared to reactivate its border loudspeakers. The resumption of broadcasts would depend on North Korea's actions and a review of strategic and operational circumstances.

South Korea Threatens to Revive Anti-North Korea Propaganda Broadcasts Amid Trash Balloon Exchange

Balloon launches and loudspeaker broadcasts were common psychological campaigns during the Cold War. The rivals have agreed to halt such activities in recent years, but have occasionally resumed them amid heightened tensions.

North Korea is particularly sensitive to South Korean border broadcasts and civilian leafletting campaigns, which provide its citizens with access to outside news that is officially banned. South Korean leafleting campaigns include criticisms of North Korea's human rights violations and USB sticks containing South Korean TV dramas.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin recently signed a deal requiring mutual aid in case of an attack and vowing to enhance cooperation. Experts believe North Korea may be providing Russia with conventional arms for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance.

In his Korean War speech, President Yoon criticized the Kim-Putin deal as "anachronistic." South Korea, the U.S., and Japan jointly condemned the expanding military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.

The U.S. aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt and its strike group are currently docked in a South Korean port to address North Korea's nuclear threats and its military partnerships with Russia. The deployment is also part of a South Korea-U.S. agreement to enhance the presence of U.S. strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea has previously responded to major U.S.-led drills with missile tests. On Monday, North Korea's vice defense minister, Kim Kang Il, denounced the USS Theodore Roosevelt's deployment as "the reckless option and action of the U.S."