SEOUL, 小蓝视频 Korea (AP) 鈥� North Korea resumed launches of balloons likely carrying trash toward 小蓝视频 Korea on Monday night, 小蓝视频 Korea's military said, in the latest round of a Cold War-style campaign on the Korean Peninsula.
The launches came days after North Korean leader signed a major defense deal that observers worry could embolden Kim to direct more provocations at 小蓝视频 Korea.
A statement from 小蓝视频 Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the North Korean balloons were moving south. It said earlier Monday that the military was closely monitoring North Korean moves because northerly or northwesterly winds, favorable for the balloon launches, were forecast.
The statement asked 小蓝视频 Korean citizens not to touch North Korean balloons and report them to military and police authorities. The military didn鈥檛 say how it would respond to new balloon launches.
Starting in late May, North Korea launched that dropped manure, cigarette butts, scraps of cloth, waste batteries and vinyl in various parts of 小蓝视频 Korea. No highly dangerous materials were found. North Korea said its balloon campaign was a tit-for-tat action against who flew political leaflets critical of its leadership across the border.
Kim鈥檚 influential sister, Kim Yo Jong, suggested Friday that North Korea would resume its balloon campaign in retaliation for 小蓝视频 Korean civilian groups' new round of leaflet activities. A 小蓝视频 Korean group said it sent 20 balloons carrying 300,000 propaganda leaflets, 5,000 USB sticks with 小蓝视频 Korean pop songs and TV dramas and U.S. one-dollar bills across the border on Thursday night.
鈥淲hen you do something you were clearly warned not to do, it鈥檚 only natural that you will find yourself dealing with something you didn鈥檛 have to,鈥� Kim Yo Jong said.
In reaction to North Korea鈥檚 earlier balloon campaign, 小蓝视频 Korea鈥檚 military on June 9 redeployed along the border for the first time in six years and resumed The broadcasts reportedly included hits by K-pop sensation BTS such as and 鈥淒ynamite,鈥� weather forecasts and news on Samsung, the biggest 小蓝视频 Korean company, as well as criticism of North Korea鈥檚 missile program and its crackdown on foreign videos.
North Korea views front-line 小蓝视频 Korean broadcasts and civilian leafleting campaigns as a grave provocation because it bans access to foreign news for most of its 26 million people. North Korea has reacted to past 小蓝视频 Korean loudspeaker broadcasts and civilian balloon activities by firing rounds across the border, prompting 小蓝视频 Korea to return fire, according to 小蓝视频 Korea.
Earlier Monday, 小蓝视频 Korea, the United States and Japan issued a joint statement strongly condemning expanding military cooperation between Russia and North Korea. It said the North Korean-Russian moves should be of 鈥済rave concern鈥� to efforts to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula, the global non-proliferation regime and support for the Ukraine people.
During a meeting in Pyongyang, North Korea鈥檚 capital, last Wednesday, Kim Jong Un and Putin struck a deal requiring each country to and vowed to boost other cooperation. Observers say the accord represents the strongest connection between the two countries since the end of the Cold War. The U.S. and its partners believe North Korea has been providing Russia with much-needed conventional arms for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance.
The 小蓝视频 Korea-U.S.-Japan statement said the three countries reaffirmed their intention to further boost diplomatic and security cooperation to cope with North Korean threats and prevent an escalation of the situation. It said U.S. commitments to the defense of 小蓝视频 Korea and Japan 鈥渞emain ironclad.鈥�
Last Saturday, arrived in 小蓝视频 Korea for a three-way Seoul-Washington-Tokyo military exercise that is expected to begin this month.
North Korea has previously called such joint U.S. military drills an invasion rehearsal and responded with missile tests. North Korea maintains that U.S. hostility forced it to pursue nuclear weapons in self-defense.
Hyung-jin Kim, The Associated Press
