South Korea Vows 'Stern Military Action' After Trash Balloons From Kim Jong Un's North Korea Disrupt Country's Busiest Airport

South Korea has issued a stern warning of military action in response to Kim Jong Un‘s North Korea recently launching trash-filled balloons.

What Happened: Incheon International Airport, one of Asia’s busiest, faced temporary shutdowns after a balloon was spotted nearby. Operations paused for 70 minutes before the balloon landed in the ocean. Shortly after resuming, debris was found, causing another brief halt, South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday.

North Korean balloons have disrupted operations at Incheon and Gimpo airports five times in June and July, impacting 133 flights and 18,000 passengers, according to Seoul aviation authorities.

Since late May, North Korea has launched around 5,500 trash-filled balloons on 22 occasions, retaliating against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent by South Korean defectors and activists. This month alone, 11 launches occurred, including about 120 balloons from Sunday evening to Monday morning.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff condemned the North’s actions, stating that “stern military measures” would be taken if public safety is threatened. In response, South Korea resumed propaganda broadcasts along the border, which North Korea countered with its own broadcasts.

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Lee Il-woo from the Korea Defence Network suggested that South Korea could use small-caliber machine guns on helicopters to shoot down the balloons. Meanwhile, Shin Won-sik, South Korea’s top security official, warned that North Korea might escalate tensions further with a nuclear test.

Why It Matters: The balloon incidents have been escalating since late May, when South Korea accused North Korea of sending balloons filled with trash and excrement over the fortified border. The South Korean military had to deploy its explosives ordnance unit and chemical and biological warfare response team to inspect and collect the objects, urging residents to avoid and report any sightings.

In early June, North Korean defectors in Seoul retaliated by launching large balloons filled with K-pop and South Korean cultural content across the border. This act was justified as a response to the trash-filled balloons sent by North Korea, which they considered an insult to the South Korean people.

Most recently, in late July, North Korea launched nearly 500 trash-filled balloons into South Korean airspace within a 24-hour period, causing flight disruptions and even a rooftop fire. This ongoing propaganda campaign by North Korea against defectors and activists in South Korea has led to multiple disruptions at Seoul's Gimpo and Incheon airports.

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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari