North Korea says balloons are a response to leaflets launched across border by activists in South Korea. South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense did not immediately comment on the number of balloons or how many landed in South Korea. In 2020, North Korea blew up an empty South Korean-built liaison office on its territory after a furious response to South Korean civilian leafleting campaigns. In 2014, North Korea fired at propaganda balloons flying towards its territory and South Korea returned fire, though there were no casualties. In 2022, North Korea even suggested that balloons flown from South Korea had caused a COVID-19 outbreak in the isolated nation, a highly questionable claim that appeared to be an attempt to blame the South for worsening inter-Korean relations.
