President's Office Holds NSC Meeting to Discuss Response Measures Following Additional Release of North Korea's Waste Balloons

Around 5:40 a.m. on the 9th, a balloon sent by North Korea toward South Korea fell into the sea in front of Yeonan Wharf, Jung-gu, Incheon. [Image source=Yonhap News]

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The Presidential Office will hold a Standing Committee meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) on the 9th to discuss response measures regarding North Korea's additional distribution of 'filth balloons.'

According to the Presidential Office, in the morning of the same day, Jang Ho-jin, Director of the National Security Office, will convene an expanded meeting of the NSC Standing Committee to discuss response measures related to North Korea's resumption of filth balloon dispersal.

Previously, North Korea released filth balloons toward South Korea twice, on the 28th-29th of last month and the 1st-2nd of this month, citing South Korea's distribution of leaflets to the North. Our side identified nearly 1,000 filth balloons.

North Korea subsequently threatened that if leaflets were distributed again, they would release "a hundredfold amount of toilet paper and filth."

In response, our government suspended the effectiveness of the September 19 Military Agreement between the South and North through the NSC Standing Committee meeting on the 2nd, a working-level coordination meeting on the 3rd, a Cabinet meeting on the 4th, and with President Yoon Seok-yeol's approval.

The September 19 Military Agreement is a supplementary agreement to the 'September Pyongyang Joint Declaration' adopted at the summit between former President Moon Jae-in and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un on September 19, 2018, which prohibits hostile acts between the South and North.

North Korea appears to have resumed filth balloon dispersal on the 6th and 7th after defectors' groups released a large number of leaflets to the North. The Joint Chiefs of Staff announced around 11 p.m. the previous day that North Korean balloons heading south were again airborne.

With the suspension of the September 19 Military Agreement's effectiveness, the government is expected to consider countermeasures, including the resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts toward the North.

At the 69th Memorial Day ceremony held at the National Seoul National Cemetery on the 6th, President Yoon said, "The government will never tolerate such threats from North Korea," adding, "We will maintain an ironclad readiness posture and respond firmly and overwhelmingly to provocations."

President Yoon Suk-yeol is delivering a commemorative speech at the 69th Memorial Day Ceremony held on the 6th at the National Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

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