North Korean trash balloons cross border day after Seoul military parade

North Korea once again sent another wave of balloons carrying trash toward the South on Wednesday, the day after a massive military parade was held in Seoul to commemorate the Armed Forces Day.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said at around 5:19 a.m. that North Korea was flying objects believed to be trash balloons, which may move toward Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province given the wind direction.

The JCS advised residents of the affected areas to be wary of falling objects and to report sightings of balloons and their contents to authorities.

Beginning in May, North Korea has sent thousands of balloons, according to the JCS.

According to the Capital Defense Command data submitted to Rep. Cha Gyu-geun’s office, at least 1,459 complaints related to North Korean balloons have been filed in Seoul alone to date.

Among them, 78 were in Yongsan, a district in central Seoul where the presidential office is located. The northernmost Seoul district of Nowon saw the largest number of complaints at 186 followed by nearby Jungnang at 101.

The Armed Forces Day parade on Tuesday featured the first-ever displays of the Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missiles aimed at destroying North Korean underground military facilities. The US Air Force B-1B bomber flew over Seoul to mark the occasion, in an apparent demonstration of security cooperation.

The vice defense minister of North Korea, Kim Kang-il, protested the show of force in Seoul with a statement warning of “corresponding actions.” The North Korean vice defense minister said the US assets being deployed for the parade were a “military bluff” and a sign of its southern neighbor’s “chronic nuclear phobia.”