SEOUL, July 24. /TASS/. North Korea has launched another batch of trash balloons - the tenth overall - towards its southern neighbor in the early hours of Wednesday, the city authorities of the South Korean capital Seoul reported.
"Balloons with trash from North Korea were again found in Seoul," the mayor’s office said in a mailout, asking residents not to approach these objects and immediately inform the police or the military.
Prior to that, Seoul authorities informed that the balloons were spotted above the northern part of the Gyeonggi-do province.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said, citing the Presidential Security Service (PSS), that one of the balloons landed on the presidential office compound.
"The PSS said it discovered fallen trash on the grounds of the presidential compound while monitoring the latest batch of balloons flown by the North earlier in the day," the agency reported.
An investigation by the chemical, biological and radiological response team showed that the object did not present a danger or contamination. The report says that the South Korean military refrains from shooting down the balloons while airborne to prevent the potentially hazardous contents from becoming scattered across a larger territory.
The propaganda activity on the border increased in late May. South Korea resumed using loudspeakers for propaganda statements and launching balloons with leaflets to the North. In response, Pyongyang sent balloons filled with trash and waste toward South Korea. The previous event of this kind was reported on July 21. South Korea responded by again switching on loudspeakers at its border with the north.