Presidential Office Holds Expanded NSC Meeting in the Afternoon on North Korea's Filth Balloons... "Discussing Countermeasures"

Consecutive Spraying Leads to Standing Committee Meeting Convening

Jang Hojin, National Security Office Chief Photo by Yonhap News

The Presidential Office will hold an expanded meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) Standing Committee on the afternoon of the 2nd in response to North Korea's repeated release of filth balloons toward the South.

On the same afternoon, the Presidential Office will hold an expanded meeting of the NSC Standing Committee, chaired by Director Jang Ho-jin of the National Security Office, to discuss countermeasures against the release of filth balloons toward the South.

This is the first time the Presidential Office has activated the NSC in response to North Korea's release of filth balloons toward the South. Previously, on the 27th of last month, the Presidential Office held a security situation review meeting chaired by Director Jang in response to North Korea's launch of a military reconnaissance satellite.

A Presidential Office official stated on the 29th of last month that North Korea has been releasing filth balloons toward the South following the launch of the military reconnaissance satellite shortly after the Korea-Japan-China summit, and said, "We will respond calmly."

The official added, "It seems that North Korea wants to test how our people react when filth or miscellaneous items are put into balloons in daily life, whether our government is shaken, and how psychological warfare or small-scale complex threats affect our country."

On the 28th and 29th of last month, North Korea also released about 260 balloons containing filth and trash such as cigarette butts, waste paper, and plastic toward the South. From 8 p.m. the previous day, filth balloons were again sent toward the South.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced that as of the morning of the same day, about 600 filth balloons had been identified in the Seoul and Gyeonggi areas.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.