South Korea blares propaganda broadcasts for 4th day; North Korea sends trash-carrying balloons

Seoul, July 21 (IANS) South Korea's military blared anti-Pyongyang broadcasts through its border loudspeakers for the fourth straight day Sunday as North Korea has again launched balloons presumed to be carrying trash toward South Korea.

The propaganda broadcasts began at 6 a.m. near the border with North Korea and are set to end 10 p.m., the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said, Yonhap news agency reported.

The JCS said North Korea's latest balloons appeared to be traveling toward the northern part of Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul and advised the public not to touch fallen balloons and to report them to the military or police.

With the latest launch, North Korea has sent more than 2,000 trash-filled balloons into the South over nine occasions in retaliation for anti-Pyongyang leaflets that North Korean defectors in South Korea send to North Korea using balloons.

South Korea blared anti-Pyongyang broadcasts through its border loudspeakers on June 9 for the first time in six years. But it switched off the loudspeakers the next day in an apparent bid to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.

On Thursday, South Korea restarted propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts toward North Korea in response to the North's repeated launch of trash-filled balloons into the South.

North Korea has bristled against the loudspeaker campaigns, as well as anti-Pyongyang leaflets, on fears that an influx of outside information could pose a threat to the Kim Jong-un regime.

Kim's powerful sister Kim Jong-un warned last week that South Korea will face "gruesome and dear" consequences if it lets North Korean defectors continue to send anti-Pyongyang leaflets to the North.

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