North Korea sends more trash balloons as Kim’s sister warns of ‘new counteraction’

CNN —

North Korea sent a new wave of trash-laden balloons toward its southern neighbor late Sunday, after Kim Jong Un’s powerful sister warned of further responses if the South keeps up its “psychological warfare.”

The new balloons, which Seoul has previously slammed as “base and dangerous,” come in apparent retaliation for the decision by South Korea to resume broadcasting anti-North Korean propaganda over loudspeakers in border areas.

Kim’s sister and government spokeswoman Kim Yo Jong warned the resumption of loudspeaker broadcasts was “a prelude to a very dangerous situation.”

In a statement carried by North Korean state media, Kim said South Korea would be subject to an unspecified “new counteraction” from the North if it continued with the loudspeaker broadcasts and failed to prevent activists from sending anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets over the border.

“I sternly warn Seoul to stop at once this dangerous act,” Kim said, adding that Seoul is creating a “new environment of crisis.”

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) has maintained North Korea is “fully responsible” for the current situation and urged the North to “immediately stop such mean acts like sending waste balloons.”

In a statement Monday, a JCS spokesman would not say whether the South would continue to broadcast over the loudspeakers, noting only that the military would conduct missions “with flexibility according to the strategic and operational situation.”

The escalating tit-for-tat has sparked concerns of potential retaliatory military action. Last week, the South Korean government suspended a 2018 deal to reduce military tensions with the North, allowing it to resume propaganda broadcasts and potentially restart military exercises