Filth → Garbage → Daenam leaflet...North, 'Balloon psychological warfare' in full swing.

[Anchor]
Analysts say that North Korea has launched a psychological war in earnest by sending a large number of trash balloons carrying South Korean leaflets for the first time, changing the contents depending on the situation.

Concerns are growing as some analysts say that they have accumulated a lot of related dates by sending thousands of them away so far.

I'm reporter Lee Jong Won.

[Reporter]
North Korea's balloon provocation against the South began in late May.

We cited our private organization's North Korea leaflets as the reason for the provocation, and the dirt contained covered not only the border area but also all over the country.

[Oh Sun-ok / Dongducheon City, Gyeonggi Province (last May): When I came out, I couldn't even talk here. So not only the filth, but also the smell is so bad....]

The soil contained in the balloon even came out with parasites, and the clothes we supported in the past were found to have been deliberately damaged.

After a long period of provocation, the contents of the balloon were turned into household garbage.

[Koo Byung-sam/Unification Ministry spokesman (last June): It included daily garbage, including socks worn several times and a T-shirt made of cloth, that could grasp the poor economic conditions inside North Korea.]

There was no material to harm.However, along with the damage caused by the impact of the balloon falling, the timer device on the balloon ignited, so the fire damage was not small.

The bigger problem is that some of the balloons have GPS devices that can provide location information, and the ratio of falling objects falling in our area to floating balloons is also on the rise.

There may be several drops from one balloon, but recently, about 20 balloons were sent, and about 10 drops were dropped on our side.

[Yang Wook / Asan Institute of Policy Researcher] It seems that they accumulated their own data by sending balloons and installing GPS and things like that. So anyway, they can spray it wherever they want....]

In particular, the contents are changing from filth to trash to South Korean leaflets, and balloon drops are flying over the presidential office, which is under official events.

[Cho Han-beom/senior researcher at the Korea Institute for Unification: It has changed into a psychological war between the authorities of the two Koreas during the Cold War. First of all, (North Korea's) goal is to stop the South Korean military's psychological warfare broadcasting.]

Experts say that it is unlikely to turn into a biological and chemical weapon that some are concerned about, but there is also a growing voice that there is a need to focus more on easing tensions, including the private sector.

I'm YTN's Lee Jong Won.

Edit
video: Ma Young-hoo