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Seoul says North Korea has flown more trash balloons toward South Korea

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Seoul says North Korea has flown more trash balloons toward South Korea
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Seoul says North Korea has flown more trash balloons toward South Korea

2024-08-10 21:49 Last Updated At:21:50

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s military says North Korea is again flying balloons likely carrying trash toward the South, adding to a bizarre psychological warfare campaign amid growing tensions between the war-divided rivals.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said Saturday that the winds could carry the balloons to regions north of the South Korean capital, Seoul. Seoul City Hall and the Gyeonggi provincial government issued text alerts urging citizens to beware of objects dropping from the sky and report to the military or police if they spot any balloons.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or property damage.

North Korea in recent weeks has flown more than 2,000 balloons carrying waste paper, cloth scraps and cigarette butts toward the South in what it has described as a retaliation toward South Korean civilian activists flying anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets across the border.

Pyongyang has long condemned such activities as it is extremely sensitive to any outside criticism of leader Kim Jong Un’s authoritarian rule.

North Korea last flew balloons toward the South on July 24, when trash carried by at least one of them fell on the South Korean presidential compound, raising worries about the vulnerability of key South Korean facilities. The balloon contained no dangerous material and no one was hurt, South Korea’s presidential security service said.

South Korea, in reaction to the North’s balloon campaign, activated its front-line loudspeakers to blast broadcasts of propaganda messages and K-pop songs. Experts say North Korea hates such broadcasts because it fears it could demoralize front-line troops and residents.

The Koreas’ tit-for-tat Cold War-style campaigns are inflaming tensions, with the rivals threatening stronger steps and warning of grave consequences.

Their relations have worsened in recent years as Kim continues to accelerate the North's nuclear weapons and missile program and issue verbal threats of nuclear conflict toward Washington and Seoul. In response, South Korea, the United States and Japan have been expanding their combined military exercises and sharpening their nuclear deterrence strategies built around U.S. strategic assets.

Experts say animosity could further rise later this month when South Korea and the United States kick off their annual joint military drills that are being strengthened to deal with the North’s nuclear threats.

The resumption of the balloon campaign comes as North Korea struggles to recover from devastating floods that submerged thousands of homes and huge swaths of farmland in areas near its border with China.

North Korean state media said Saturday that Kim ordered officials to bring some 15,400 people displaced by the floods to the capital city, Pyongyang, to provide them better care, and that it would take two or three months to rebuild homes in flood-hit areas.

He has so far turned down aid offers by traditional allies Russia and China and international aid groups, insisting that North Korea is capable of handling the recovery on its own. He accused “enemy” South Korea of a “vicious smear campaign” to tarnish the image of his government, claiming that the South's media have been exaggerating the damage and casualties caused by the floods.

FILE - A balloon presumably sent by North Korea, is seen in a paddy field in Incheon, South Korea, on June 10, 2024. (Im Sun-suk/Yonhap via AP, File)

FILE - A balloon presumably sent by North Korea, is seen in a paddy field in Incheon, South Korea, on June 10, 2024. (Im Sun-suk/Yonhap via AP, File)

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Wales will close stadium roof in the Six Nations for the next two years

2025-01-21 18:56 Last Updated At:19:01

CARDIFF, Wales (AP) — The loudest stadium in the Six Nations just got louder after Wales was allowed on Tuesday to close the roof of Principality Stadium for the next two years.

The decision for all rugby internationals was made possible following a change of protocol, which was agreed to by the Six Nations. The previous rules needed both teams involved to agree to close the roof in Cardiff.

The move also came after both of Wales' home games in the upcoming tournament sold out all 74,000 tickets. The Wales-Ireland game on Feb. 22 became a sell-out on Tuesday, after the Wales-England game on March 15 was sold out before Christmas.

“There’s no better atmosphere than a packed-out Principality Stadium roaring Wales along,” Principality Stadium manager Mark Williams said in a statement. “When the roof is shut, the noise is intimidating. It’s fantastic for both the fans and players.”

In the 2015 Six Nations, tests revealed the England-Wales game — with the roof open — averaged 92 decibels, and passed 100 decibels when Wales scored a try.

A lawnmower can be 90 decibels. Health officials say a noise level above 85 decibels can cause hearing loss.

AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby

FILE - General view of Principality Stadium before the Six Nations rugby union international between Wales and France at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira, File)

FILE - General view of Principality Stadium before the Six Nations rugby union international between Wales and France at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales, Saturday, Feb. 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira, File)

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