South Korea’s point man on North Korea said Wednesday that Pyongyang should be held legally accountable for the damage caused by thousands of trash-filled balloons sent across the border by the North.

North Korea has launched thousands of balloons filled with trash since late May in retaliation against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border by North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea.

“We should hold North Korea accountable for this issue,” Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho said in a parliamentary session after a lawmaker pointed out the government should seek compensation from North Korea for the damage.

Currently, the law does not provide a legal framework for the government to offer compensation for property damage caused by North Korea’s provocations or these trash-filled balloons.

On Monday, firefighters put out a blaze that began on the rooftop of a warehouse in Paju, 27 kilometers northwest of Seoul, after a North Korean trash balloon landed there.

A Joint Chiefs of Staff spokes
person has said some North Korean balloons have dropped bundles of trash using devices that heat up and disconnect the garbage after a certain period of time, noting they could lead to fires if they land on surfaces without properly separating.

Source: Yonhap News Agency