N. Korea should be held accountable for damage from trash balloons: unification minister
Unification minister Kim Yung-ho speaks during a forum in Yeouido, Seoul, in this photo provided by the Ministry of Unification, Sept. 9. Yonhap
South Korea's point man on North Korea said Wednesday that Pyongyang should be held legally accountable for the damage caused by thousands of trash-filled balloons sent across the border by the North.
North Korea has launched thousands of balloons filled with trash since late May in retaliation against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border by North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea.
"We should hold North Korea accountable for this issue," Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho said in a parliamentary session after a lawmaker pointed out the government should seek compensation from North Korea for the damage.
Currently, the law does not provide a legal framework for the government to offer compensation for property damage caused by North Korea's provocations or these trash-filled balloons.
On Monday, firefighters put out a blaze that began on the rooftop of a warehouse in Paju, 27 kilometers northwest of Seoul, after a North Korean trash balloon landed there.
A Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson has said some North Korean balloons have dropped bundles of trash using devices that heat up and disconnect the garbage after a certain period of time, noting they could lead to fires if they land on surfaces without properly separating. (Yonhap)