ENTRE News – Hundreds of flights in South Korea failed to operate due to trash balloons flown by North Korea to Seoul recently. South Korean lawmaker Jeong Jun Ho said 115 commercial planes had been disrupted by North Korea’s shipment of trash balloons since May. This data is based on the latest records from the South Korean Ministry of Transportation.
According to Jeong, at least 15 planes, including those from the United States, were forced to make alternative landings at Incheon Airport. Passengers also had to experience long delays before finally being able to reach Incheon Airport.
“[Flights from San Francisco, Vancouver FOR4D and Los Angeles] were scheduled to land at Incheon International Airport but ended up at Cheongju Airport without knowing what happened,” he said.
At least 10,000 passengers were affected by the delivery of these trash balloons, as quoted by AFP FOR4D. Investors are said to be starting to worry because of North Korea’s threat. Along with this, Jeong urged authorities to take further action to prevent activists from sending balloons to North Korea.
In recent times, North Korea has sent thousands of balloons filled with rubbish and feces to the South Korean border. The balloons were sent as Pyongyang’s response to leaflet balloons sent by Seoul activists to North Korea.
From the start, North Korea did not accept the campaign FOR4D. Pyongyang is concerned that outside information like this could pose a threat to supreme leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea has repeatedly called for an end to the leaflet campaign.
South Korea cannot sanction activists for these actions because of a court ruling in 2023. The ruling stated that the ban on activists’ actions was a violation of freedom of speech. North and South Korea are technically still at war because the Korean War in 1950-1953 ended with a ceasefire FOR4D, not a peace treaty.