North Korea floats more rubbish-filled balloons to South Korea

MicroWave@lemmy.world to World News@lemmy.world – 132 points – North Korea floats more rubbish-filled balloons to South Korea
bbc.com

North Korea is sending more balloons carrying rubbish across the heavily fortified southern border, South Korea's military has said.

It comes just days after North Korea appeared to send at least 200 balloons carrying rubbish over the border in retaliation for propaganda leaflets sent from the south.

South Korea's defence minister Shin Won-sik called it "unimaginably petty and low-grade behaviour" while the military added it is examining the contents of the bags floated over the border by the balloons.

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people in the South Korean capital to refrain from touching balloons

carrying toilet paper,

Yeah... I mean, probably a good idea in general, but particularly in North Korea's case.

I understand that North Korea can't afford chemical fertilizer, so they use human waste, which has resulted in problems with parasites that are transmitted through fecal matter making their way through the population.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42021373

A North Korean soldier who was shot while fleeing across the border has an extremely high level of parasites in his intestines, his doctors say.

The defector crossed the demilitarised zone on Monday, but was shot several times by North Korean border guards.

Doctors say the patient is stable - but "an enormous number" of worms in his body are contaminating his wounds and making his situation worse.

His condition is thought to give a rare insight into life in North Korea.

"I've never seen anything like this in my 20 years as a physician," South Korean doctor Lee Cook-jong told journalists, explaining that the longest worm removed from the patient's intestines was 27cm (11in) long.

"I don't know what is happening in North Korea, but I found many parasites when examining other defectors," Professor Seong Min of Dankook University Medical School was quoted by the Korea Biomedical Review as saying.

Parasites which enter the body via contaminated food are often worms.

The soldier's food may have been contaminated because the North still uses human faeces as fertiliser, known as "night soil".

Lee Min-bok, a North Korean agriculture expert, told Reuters: "Chemical fertiliser was supplied by the state until the 1970s. By the 1990s, the state could not supply it any more, so farmers started to use a lot of night soil instead."

If these faeces are untreated and fertilise vegetables that are later eaten uncooked, the parasites get into the mouth and the intestines of the person.

This is the best summary I could come up with:

North Korea is sending more balloons carrying rubbish across the heavily fortified southern border, South Korea's military has said.It comes just days after North Korea appeared to send at least 200 balloons carrying rubbish over the border in retaliation for propaganda leaflets sent from the south.South Korea's defence minister Shin Won-sik called it "unimaginably petty and low-grade behaviour" while the military added it is examining the contents of the bags floated over the border by the balloons.North Korea has yet to comment on the latest batch of balloons, but on Thursday, vice-defence minister Kim Kang Il warned waste paper and filth would be sent over the border so the South could appreciate how much effort it takes to remove them.

South Korea's military asked the public to avoid touching the balloons and report them to authorities, according to a statement on Saturday reported by news agency Yonhap.A public message asked people in the South Korean capital to refrain from touching balloons "identified in the sky near Seoul" and to report them as these were "being handled by the military".Other regional governments had been asked to broadcast similar messages, the defence ministry said.Late on Tuesday, residents living in Seoul and in the border region received text messages from provincial authorities asking them to "refrain from outdoor activities".They were also asked to file a report at the nearest military base or police station if they spot an "unidentified object".South Korean authorities said the bags "contained filthy waste and trash" and were being analysed by relevant authorities.

Photographs shared on social media show bags attached via string to white translucent balloons carrying toilet paper, dark soil and batteries, among other contents.Police and military officers are seen in some of these photographs.South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported that "some of the fallen balloons carried what appears to be faeces, judging from its dark colour and odour".South Korea's military condemned the act as a "clear violation of international law".

North and South Korea have both used balloons in their propaganda campaigns since the Korean War in the 1950s.Recent incidents come days after North Korea said it would retaliate against the "frequent scattering of leaflets and other rubbish" in border areas by activists in the South.In addition to anti-Pyongyang propaganda, activists in South Korea have launched balloons carrying among other things, cash, banned media content and even Choco Pies - a South Korean snack banned in the North.

Earlier this month, a South Korea-based activist group claimed it had sent 20 balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets and USB sticks containing Korean pop music and music videos across the border.Seoul's parliament passed a law in December 2020 that criminalises the launch of anti-Pyongyang leaflets, but critics have raised concerns related to freedom of speech and human rights.North Korea has also launched balloons southward that attacked Seoul's leaders.

In one such launch in 2016, the balloons reportedly carried toilet paper, cigarette butts and rubbish.

The original article contains 529 words, the summary contains 485 words. Saved 8%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!

I mean, if the south side was doing the same shit? Why are they crying now? I genuinely don't get it. Just playing devil's advocate to expand my understanding here.

Edit: Please have a conversation with me instead of down voting. Let's not be another reddit. I said I'm saying this just to understand. 👍

Leaflets in balloons are a bit different then shit and batteries.

Not just leaflets, but also music, music videos, snacks and cash.

In addition to anti-Pyongyang propaganda, activists in South Korea have launched balloons carrying among other things, cash, banned media content and even Choco Pies - a South Korean snack banned in the North.

Earlier this month, a South Korea-based activist group claimed it had sent 20 balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets and USB sticks containing Korean pop music and music videos across the border.

Music, so dangerous!

You joke, but without KPop, our teens would run riot in the streets.

Not dangerous to the public, but it will be to the government.

If you've gone to great lengths to maintain an information bubble and keeping the country cut off from the outside world informationally, and if the government remaining intact relies on that...if the whole thing collapses, I suspect that the life expectancy of the North Korean leadership isn't too good.

True. It's disrespect from both sides though, even though we outsiders consider only the north to be ridiculous. Are the South side trying to enlighten the North's people or something? What was the agenda there? Like, the larger agenda.

I agree, it is disrespectful for both

I can understand that the south would view it as spreading culture or "enlightening" as you mentioned, since the North is a locked down authoritarian country.

I like how everyone agreeing with me gets up votes, but I get a million down votes, lmao.

But yeah. Us non-North Koreans obviously favor what the South is doing more than the North, and North knows it's full of shit and their propaganda won't work so they just send garbage and shit. But still. Both sides should stop.

I agree, either floating stuff into neighboring countries is fine or it's not.

'Oh we were sending illegal stuff into your country but it's OK because we're the good guys' is something both sides would say so our media supporting one and deriding the other is silly - and yes they both say they're sending good things and the enemy is sending bad things.

Exactly my point lol. It's funny how the ones agreeing with me in the comments get up votes but I get obliterated. 😆 Lots of redditors did migrate here after all, huh. 💀

https://youtu.be/6G8YCM0pGfU

S. Korean government is the woman before ~20 seconds, N. Korean government is the woman after that point, and I guess regular citizens are like the people in the diner.

Fighting is one thing, poop is another.