Contents of North Korean balloons indicate a difficult situation

Several balloons filled with debris were seen around South Korea's Incheon Airport in Seoul on Wednesday, forcing the closure of the airport. Reports say this is not the first time balloons have been seen in the area, which is about 40 kilometers from the border. Watchman. All flights were canceled for three hours in the afternoon. After that, the plane was able to resume flying again, but with many delays.

Since the end of last May, North Korea has sent balloons filled with feces, old clothes and parasites across the border, he wrote BBC. The content provides indicators of the situation in the country, which is isolated from the outside world. South Korea has asked chemical and biological warfare experts to examine the balloons, and analysis shows that some of them contain soil with various types of parasites, including roundworms and whipworms. Experts believe the parasites are in the soil because North Koreans reportedly use human feces instead of chemical fertilizers in agriculture. Reuters. North Korea has long suffered from food shortages and relied on shipments of chemical fertilizers from the South, until shipments were cut off as Pyongyang increased weapons production in 2007.

Torn clothes were also found in the balloons, indicating the tense economic situation in the country.

At the beginning of the week Tensions increased further when Pyongyang launched 350 balloons within 24 hours, according to the South Korean Yonhap News Agency. CNN. This is a clear increase from the approximately 1,500 messages previously sent over the course of one month. Between Tuesday and Wednesday, about 100 balloons landed on South Korean soil, most of them in the capital, The Guardian reported, citing the Korean military.

North Korea believes it is retaliation for balloons that South Korea sent across the border carrying food, medicine, money and leaflets critical of Kim Jong Un's rule, Reuters writes. In response, South Korea, in turn, set up large speakers to play news and music.