SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Trash carried by a North Korean balloon fell on the presidential compound in central Seoul on Thursday, officials said, the second such case in recent months that raise concerns about the vulnerability of key South Korean sites during potential North Korean aggression.
The incident comes after the rival Koreas ramped up threats and rhetoric against each other over North Korea’s claims that South Korea flew drones over its capital Pyongyang to scatter propaganda leaflets this month.
South Korea’s presidential security service said in a statement that one of the balloons floated by North Korea burst over the South Korean presidential compound on Thursday morning, dropping rubbish on the ground. No dangerous items were found.
North Korea has sent trash-carrying balloons into South Korea since late May in a resumption of a Cold War-style psychological campaign. The trash that fell on the South Korean presidential compound in July contained no dangerous material and no one was hurt.
It wasn’t immediately known whether South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol was at the compound during the latest incident. His schedule showed he was due to meet with visiting Polish President Andrzej Duda at his office later Thursday.
South Korea’s Dong-A Ilbo newspaper reported earlier Thursday on its website that North Korea’s latest balloons contained propaganda leaflets criticizing Yoon and his wife Kim Keon Hee along with trash.
The newspapers said the leaflets were scattered in areas in Seoul’s Yongsan district, where Yoon’s presidential office is located, and noted that North Korea has recently begun using GPS technology to drop balloons more accurately in intended locations.
The South Korean presidential security service didn't immediately confirm the report.
Experts say North Korea likely lacks sophisticated technology to drop balloons on specific targets.
“Whether the balloons have GPS or not, it’s all about launching them in large numbers and hitting the right altitude based on wind direction and speed, so that they can ride those winds to travel,” Lee Choon Geun, an honorary research fellow at South Korea’s Science and Technology Policy Institute, said.
“While some media are saying the accuracy of the balloons has improved, that improved accuracy isn’t because they equipped them with some sort of guidance system, but rather because it’s the season when winds blow southward," Lee said.
North Korea has earlier accused South Korea of infiltrating drones to drop propaganda leaflets over Pyongyang three times this month and threatened military responses if it happened again. South Korea has refused to confirm whether it sent drones but warned that North Korea would face the end of its regime if the safety of South Korean citizens is threatened.
North Korea said its balloon activities were response to South Korean activists launching anti-Pyongyang leaflets via their own balloons. South Korea responded by restarting propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts at border areas, prompting North Korea to turn on their own frontline loudspeakers.
The Koreas' Cold War-style campaigns come as North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has increased the pace of his weapons tests and expanded military cooperation with Russia.
U.S. and South Korean officials said Wednesday that 3,000 North Korean troops have been deployed to Russia and are training at several locations. South Korean officials say North Korea eventually aims to send a total of 10,000 troops to Russia to support its war efforts in Ukraine.
South Korea is concerned that Russia may reward North Korea by giving it sophisticated technologies that could improve the North's nuclear and missile programs that target South Korea and its allies.
FILE - North Korean balloons are seen from the Unification Observation Post in Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, on Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
A visitor uses binoculars to see the North Korean side from the unification observatory in Paju, South Korea, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
ASTON, Pa. (AP) — Vice President Kamala Harris plans to lay out her campaign's closing argument by returning to the site near the White House where Donald Trump helped incite a mob that attacked the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 — hoping it will crystalize for voters the fight between defending democracy and sowing political chaos.
Her campaign says Harris will give a speech at the Ellipse on Tuesday — one week before Election Day — and will urge the nation to “turn the page” toward a new era and away from Trump.
The site is symbolic, since it's where Trump delivered a speech on Jan. 6, 2021, as Congress was convening to certify Joe Biden's victory in the election that past November. In it, Trump lied repeatedly about widespread voter fraud that had not occurred and urged supporters to fight. Hundreds then stormed the Capitol in a deadly riot.
Word of the speech came from a senior Harris campaign official who insisted on anonymity to discuss an address that is still in development. The Harris campaign is betting that her speaking at the Ellipse can provide an opportunity for the vice president to stress that the country no longer wants to be defined by a political combativeness that Trump seems to relish.
Trump has promised to pardon those jailed for their role in the Capitol attack should he reclaim the presidency during the election Nov. 5.
Her team announced the coming Ellipse addressed before Harris attended a CNN town hall in suburban Philadelphia on Wednesday night, where she took questions from an audience of undecided voters as part of what was once envisioned as a debate with Trump. Harris had said she would participate in a CNN debate but the two sides never worked out a formal agreement. CNN said it also invited Trump to a town hall. but that it didn’t happen.
Harris told the audience that the Jan. 6 attack saw a “president of the United States defying the will of the people in a free and fair election and unleashing a violent mob who attacked the United States Capitol.”
The first audience question was from a self-described “anti-Trump Republican” who was concerned about the Jan. 6 attack.
“I believe the American people deserve better, and they deserve a president who is focused on solutions, not sitting in the Oval Office plotting every day,” Harris said.
She also said Trump is “increasingly unstable and unfit to serve.” Asked directly if she thought her opponent was a fascist, Harris responded, "Yes, I do."
Harris was asked how her presidency would be different from Biden’s given that she’s been a part of his administration for nearly four years — a question she's answered in recent weeks without naming major contrasts. This time, Harris seemed better prepared to talk about how things would be different, saying, “My administration will not be a continuation of the Biden administration” and saying she represented a “new generation of leadership on a number of issues.”
“I’m pointing out things that haven’t been done that need to be done,” the vice president said of Biden’s policies, also noting, “I’m not going to shy away from saying, ‘Hey, these are still problems that we need to fix.’” She pointed specifically to her promises to increase federal grants for small businesses and to expand government funding for home health care to people caring for their elderly parents and children simultaneously.
When it comes to Jan. 6, about 4 in 10 likely voters in a CNN poll from September said the economy was their most important issue when deciding how to vote, and about 2 in 10 said protecting democracy was. That compared to about 1 in 10 who named either immigration or abortion and reproductive rights.
Protecting democracy also seems to be more important to Democrats and Harris supporters. Roughly 4 in 10 voters who back Harris call it their top issue, compared to about 2 in 10 who say that about the economy. For Republicans and Trump supporters, about 6 in 10 name the economy as their top voting issue, followed by immigration. Only 5% of Trump supporters said protecting democracy was their top issue.
Closing arguments are important opportunities for candidates to sum up their campaigns and make a concise case for why voters should back them.
Trump's campaign suggested he'd begin framing his closing argument while addressing a rally last weekend in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Instead, the former president spent more than 10 minutes talking about the genitals of the late, legendary golfer Arnold Palmer, who was born in Latrobe.
The townhall followed Harris greeting campaign volunteers at Philadelphia's Famous 4th Street Deli — a longtime haven for elected officials where the politics is probably more famous than the pastrami. She posed for selfies, and when one man cried, “We’re gonna win,” Harris responded, “We are.”
Later she was more superstitious while addressing the larger crowd, declaring, “Knock wood, God willing, we are going to win.”
Harris eventually signed an order sheet, then grabbed a to-go bag with a pastrami sandwich on rye and a slice of German chocolate cake.
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Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Linley Sanders contributed to this report from Washington.
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris boards Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (Erin Schaff//The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to patrons at a campaign stop at Famous 4th Street Delicatessen in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives on Air Force Two in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. Harris was greeted by from left, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker (green), Harris, Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., (black), and Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., (blue). (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris arrives on Air Force Two in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024, and is greeted by from left, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker (green), Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-Pa., (black), and Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., (blue). (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris leaves after speaking at the vice president's residence in Washington, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris talks to reporters aboard Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (Erin Schaff//The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris talks to reporters aboard Air Force Two at Joint Base Andrews, Md., Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (Erin Schaff//The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to patrons at a campaign stop at Famous 4th Street Delicatessen in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris takes a selfie with a patron at a campaign stop at Famous 4th Street Delicatessen in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, with Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, right, speaks to workers and patrons at a campaign stop at Famous 4th Street Delicatessen in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, with Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker, right, signs an autograph and speaks to workers and patrons at a campaign stop at Famous 4th Street Delicatessen in Philadelphia, Wednesday, Oct. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
