North Korea has dispatched hundreds more balloons filled with waste into South Korea, following Kim Jong Un’s sister’s warning for Seoul to stop propaganda broadcasts across their tense border.

More than 300 balloons loaded with litter were sent by Pyongyang across the inter-Korean border overnight, South Korea’s military reported on Monday. This act follows Kim Yo Jong’s earlier warning that the loudspeaker broadcasts might lead to a “crisis of confrontation”.

In a statement issued on Sunday through state media, Kim Yo Jong remarked, “This is a prelude to a very dangerous situation.”

According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), the latest balloons contained only scrap paper and plastic, unlike earlier batches that held unclean materials like manure, toilet paper, and cigarette butts.

Military personnel confirmed no balloons were noticed floating as of 8:30am.

South Korea had resumed loudspeaker broadcasts hours before, in reaction to the North's recent weeks-long dispatch of over 1,000 rubbish-filled balloons.

The content of these broadcasts has previously included international news and K-pop, both restricted under the Kim regime.

In 2018, Seoul stopped these broadcasts during a period of inter-Korean reconciliation led by former President Moon Jae-in, who was succeeded by the current conservative leader, Yoon Seok-yeol.

According to Pyongyang, the balloon initiative was in retaliation for South Korean activists sending anti-North Korean leaflets and USB drives carrying South Korean music and dramas across the border.

Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, commented, “Seoul wants to avoid military tension at the border, while Pyongyang seeks to prevent outside information that could undermine the Kim regime’s legitimacy. For both sides, ‘escalating to deescalate’ is a risky strategy. North Korea might have already misjudged, as South Korea’s democracy can’t simply shut down NGO balloon launches as an autocratic state might expect. Pyongyang often utilizes asymmetric tactics to its benefit, but in today’s information environment, it is outmatched by messages of freedom, economic success, and K-pop.”