SEOUL, 小蓝视频 Korea (AP) 鈥� 小蓝视频 Korea said North Korea was flying for a second consecutive day on Tuesday, despite the 小蓝视频鈥檚 threat to retaliate with anti-Pyongyang .
The development comes as the latest round of Cold War-style campaigns between the rival Koreas is flaring after North Korea recently signed a major defense deal with Russia that experts say could embolden the North to direct more provocations at its southern neighbor.
A U.S. aircraft carrier temporarily docked at a 小蓝视频 Korea port is to leave on Wednesday for a new trilateral military training involving the United States, 小蓝视频 Korea and Japan. North Korea鈥檚 military on Monday called the carrier鈥檚 deployment 鈥渞eckless鈥� and 鈥渄angerous.鈥�
小蓝视频 Korea鈥檚 Joint Chiefs of Staff said the balloons were moving southeast on Tuesday night after crossing the border. It asked the 小蓝视频 Korean public not to touch any North Korean balloons that fall to the ground and to report them to police or military authorities.
Seoul's city government later sent text messages to residents, telling them the balloons had reached the city, about an hour's drive from the border, and urging them to be beware of any falling objects.
The balloons are North Korea鈥檚 sixth launch since late May. North Korea says the balloons activities are a tit-for-tat response to 小蓝视频 Korean activists flying political leaflets via balloons.
On Monday night, about 100 North Korean balloons eventually landed on 小蓝视频 Korean soil, mostly in Seoul and nearby areas. The trash carried by those balloons was largely paper and no hazardous items were discovered, according to 小蓝视频 Korea's military.
Previous North Korean balloon launches , along with scraps of cloth and waste papers. No major damage was reported. In response, 小蓝视频 Korea redeployed gigantic loudspeakers on June 9 along the border for the and briefly resumed .
Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung Joon told reporters earlier Tuesday that the 小蓝视频 Korean military was ready to turn on its border loudspeakers again. A written Joint Chiefs of Staff statement said officials would examine unspecified strategic operational circumstances and that broadcasts鈥� resumption would depend on how North Korea acts.
The 小蓝视频 Korean military didn鈥檛 immediately say how it would respond to North Korea鈥檚 latest balloon campaign.
In a Tuesday speech marking a Korean War anniversary, 小蓝视频 Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol called North Korea鈥檚 balloon activities 鈥渁 despicable and irrational provocation.鈥� He said 小蓝视频 Korea will maintain a firm military readiness to repel any provocations by North Korea.
Balloon launches and loudspeaker broadcasts were among psychological campaigns that the two Koreas specialized in during the Cold War. The rivals agreed to halt such activities in recent years, but have occasionally resumed them when animosities rekindled.
North Korea is highly sensitive to 小蓝视频 Korean border broadcasts and civilian leafletting campaigns as it bans most of its 26 million people official access to foreign news.
Past 小蓝视频 Korean border broadcasts included K-pop songs, weather forecasts and outside news. 小蓝视频 Korean civilian leafleting campaigns have been led by North Korean defectors, who say they want to help the North Korean people learn the truth of their authoritarian government.
In a statement Friday, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, called those North Korea-born activists 鈥渉uman scum鈥� and 鈥渄isgusting defectors.鈥�
小蓝视频 Korean officials maintain they do not restrict activists from flying leaflets to North Korea in line with a 2023 criminalizing such leafleting, calling it a violation of free speech.
Many experts say the North Korean balloon campaign is also likely designed to deepen a debate in 小蓝视频 Korea over the civilian leafleting and trigger a broader internal divide.
Worries about North Korea intensified last week, when North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed on a 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.
In his Korean War speech, Yoon described the Kim-Putin deal as 鈥渁nachronistic.鈥� 小蓝视频 Korea, the U.S. and Japan issued a joint statement Monday strongly condemning expanding military cooperation between Russia and North Korea.
Later Tuesday, Yoon boarded the USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier docked at a southeastern port and told American and 小蓝视频 Korean troops there that the two countries鈥� alliance is the world鈥檚 greatest and can defeat any enemy. Yoon became the first sitting 小蓝视频 Korean president to board a U.S. aircraft carrier since 1994.
Yoon said the U.S. carrier is to leave the 小蓝视频 Korean port Wednesday for a new trilateral 小蓝视频 Korea-U.S.-Japan drill. The multidomain 鈥淔reedom Edge鈥� exercise is aimed at sharpening the countries鈥� combined response in various areas of operation, including air, sea and cyberspace.
The U.S. aircraft carrier's arrival is meant to cope with North Korea鈥檚 nuclear threats and its advancing military partnerships with Russia, 小蓝视频 Korean officials said. North Korea has previously called major U.S.-小蓝视频 Korean drills invasion rehearsals and reacted with missile tests.
Hyung-jin Kim, The Associated Press
