North Korea’s trash balloon lands at South Korea’s presidential palace

A balloon carrying trash sent by North Korea has landed at South Korea’s presidential palace in the capital, Seoul, officials said.

It was the first time the South Korean leader’s office, which is a designated no-fly zone, has been hit by a balloon launched by Pyongyang.

The presidential security service said it dispatched chemical, biological and radiological warfare response teams to collect the balloons.

They were found to pose no contamination or safety risks.

The military did not shoot down the balloon because they feared it would lead to further dissemination of its contents, according to local news site Yonhap.

Balloons also landed in other areas of Seoul, and officials told residents to avoid touching them and “report to the nearest military unit or police station.”

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told Reuters that balloons aimed at South Korea could land in northern Gyeonggi Province, home to the capital and the country’s most populous province, because of winds blowing from the west.

The latest incident comes days after South Korea’s military reacted to escalating launches by reactivating propaganda broadcasts from border loudspeakers.

Since the Korean War in the 1950s, both North and South Korea have used balloons in propaganda campaigns.

Launch activity has escalated this year, with North Korea launching thousands of balloons across the border since May.

Wednesday’s balloon launch marked North Korea’s tenth launch this year, which it claimed was retaliation for balloon launches by South Korean activists.

The items were said to contain anti-Pyongyang leaflets, as well as food, medicine, money and USB drives containing popular Korean movies and TV series.