Rival parties show different reactions to NK trash-carrying balloons
Balloons carrying garbage sent by North Korea are seen in the waters off Incheon, Sunday. Yonhap
Ruling and opposition parties are responding differently to the government's approach to North Korea's trash-carrying balloons, particularly as South Korea resumes loudspeaker broadcasts in the border area as a retaliatory measure.
The conservative ruling People Power Party (PPP) supports the move, calling the broadcasts an appropriate response to threats to national security, while the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) is urging the government to halt what they perceive as a "game of chicken" that could escalate into skirmishes.
As of Monday, Pyongyang has sent approximately 1,600 balloons on four occasions since May 28, with the latest release occurring on Sunday night, just hours after South Korea resumed its propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts directed toward the North.
"I believe that the public does not want the government to respond too passively to North Korea's provocations, as was the case during the previous Moon Jae-in administration," PPP Rep. Cho Kyung-tae said during a radio interview, Monday, describing the resumption of loudspeakers as an appropriate move.
Cho advocated for a stronger response beyond loudspeaker broadcasts, calling for enhanced military capabilities to effectively counter any threats posed by North Korea.
Rep. Ahn Cheol-soo, a fellow PPP lawmaker, also supported the government's hardline response.
"There should always be an immediate response and retaliation. Psychological warfare, such as loudspeaker broadcasts, is an effective tool to destabilize the North Korean regime," Ahn wrote on Facebook.
Some other PPP members, including former lawmaker Yoo Seong-min, even called for more active measures such as shooting the balloons down instead of waiting for them to land and remove the trash.
A North Korean village in Hwanghae Province is seen near the western front-line border with South Korea, in this photo taken from an observatory on Ganghwa Island off the coast of Incheon, Monday. Yonhap
On the other hand, the liberal DPK criticized the resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts as a rash decision that would only heighten military tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
"We must stop this childish game of chicken where both South Korea and North Korea inevitably end up as losers. While condemning the North Korean authorities, I urge the government to exercise restraint and respond prudently," DPK Chairman Rep. Lee Jae-myung said during a party meeting, Monday.
Rep. Kim Byung-joo of the DPK, a retired Army general, said during a radio interview, "It's very concerning that, without putting the brakes on this escalating conflict, the situation could lead to a direct confrontation, possibly even a military conflict."
The opposition party also criticized the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's passive stance on anti-North Korean leaflets sent by South Korean civic groups. The North Korean regime claimed that its balloon launches were retaliations for these leaflets.
The activist groups, mainly comprised of North Korean defectors, put cash, USB drives loaded with K-pop and leaflets critical of the Kim Jong-un regime in their balloons, viewing them as effective means to help North Koreans see the truth about their leadership and eventually flee the reclusive country.
The Yoon administration, citing a 2023 Constitutional Court ruling that deemed the leaflet launches a matter of freedom of expression, has not requested activists to refrain from sending them.
This stance remains unchanged even in the aftermath of the trash-filled balloon episode.
"There is no change in our stance. We are approaching the issue according to the Constitutional Court's decision to guarantee freedom of expression," Unification Ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam told reporters, Monday.
North Korea warns of new counteractions
Amid the rising tensions, Kim Yo-jong, sister of the North Korean leader, warned of potential new retaliatory measures beyond trash-filled balloons if Seoul continues loudspeaker broadcasts and leaflet launches.
"If South Korea continues to engage in leaflet distribution and loudspeaker broadcasts across the border, there is no doubt that we will respond with new measures. The distress of having to pick up waste paper will become their daily lives," she said in a statement released on Sunday night.
She did not specify what those "new measures" would be.
In August 2015, when the South Korean military resumed propaganda broadcasts in retaliation against a North Korean land mine attack that maimed two South Korean soldiers, Pyongyang fired artillery rounds at the speakers.
The South Korean military said it will operate the propaganda speakers in a flexible manner.
"We are conducting operations as necessary, taking into account various situations and circumstances," Army Col. Lee Sung-joon, spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), said during a briefing on Monday, when asked why the military operated the speakers for only two hours the previous day.
The military operated several of the fixed loudspeakers installed on the frontline for two hours from 5 p.m., Sunday.
Lee declined to comment on the schedule for further broadcasts, but added, "Our military has the capability to overwhelmingly respond to any provocation from North Korea, and we are closely monitoring the movements of the North Korean military."
According to the JCS, the military did not operate the speakers on Monday, but remains prepared to do so in case of any provocations from the North. The North Korean military was spotted installing loudspeakers for broadcasts aimed at the South in the frontline border area.
Army Col. Lee Sung-joon, a spokesperson for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, speaks during a briefing at the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap