▲ A North Korean balloon carrying trash crashes on a car parked in Ansan, south of Seoul, on June 2, 2024, in this photo provided by Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

NSC-trash balloons

NSC to convene meetings with ministries to discuss N. Korea's trash balloons

SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- The National Security Council (NSC) will hold a meeting with senior government officials Monday to discuss responses after North Korea said it will stop sending trash balloons to South Korea, a senior presidential official said.

NSC adviser Chang Ho-jin said Sunday the government will take "unbearable" measures against North Korea in response to its sending of trash balloons and continued jamming of GPS signals last week, raising speculation over resuming propaganda campaigns via loudspeakers along the border.

Hours after the warning, North Korea said it will temporarily stop sending trash-carrying balloons across the border into South Korea, though it also threatened to resume such operations if anti-Pyongyang leaflets are sent from South Korea.

The North said its balloon campaign came purely in response to leaflets flown by South Korean activists.

Monday's interagency meeting is expected to focus on analyzing North Korea's reaction and on whether to go ahead and resume border loudspeaker broadcasts.

"We will conduct an in-depth review of North Korea's stance through meetings with relevant ministries and decide on the future course of action," a senior presidential official told Yonhap News Agency by phone.

To resume the front-line broadcasts, it would be necessary to nullify a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement, which bans hostile acts between the two Koreas. The loudspeakers used to air criticism of the Kim Jong-un regime's human rights abuses, news and K-pop songs, drawing angry responses from Pyongyang.

The 2018 agreement, signed to reduce tensions along the border, remains effectively scrapped after the North conducted live-fire artillery drills near the western border islands in January.

The government was reportedly considering discussing the inter-Korean military agreement in a Cabinet meeting slated for Tuesday, which would clear the way for resuming the loudspeaker broadcasts.

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