North Korea airdrops ‘trash’ into South, claims Seoul's military

ISTANBUL

North Korea has airdropped “trash” into South Korea, Seoul’s military claimed on Wednesday.

Pyongyang sent “more than 200 balloons carrying trash and waste across the inter-Korean border,” South Korea said in a statement to Yonhap News.

The move was seen as a tit-for-tat action by North Korea against anti-Pyongyang leaflets flown into the territory by activists from across the border.

The balloons had reached the southeastern province of South Gyeongsang, over 300 kilometers from the border.

Meanwhile, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visited the country's Academy of Defense Sciences on Tuesday, state-run media reported.

The trip came a day after a launch failure in Pyongyang’s satellite program.

Kim vowed to develop a space probe amid a “grave security environment," adding that learning from failure "is a prerequisite for success."

The satellite launch failed "due to the self-destruct system triggered by an abnormality in the first stage engine," Kim said, according to Japan's Kyodo News.

"It is through failure that we learn more and develop further," he said, adding that those engaged in the development of the satellite will not be "intimidated, but will strive to achieve greater results."

Possessing a military reconnaissance satellite helps North Korea "further strengthen" its self-defense and deterrence, he added.

He also criticized the "recklessness of the US imperialists and their stooges' political and military provocations getting more and more violent.”

“The present situation requires further bolstering up the war deterrence in every way and steadily developing” North Korean armed forces into an entity of “super-powerful and absolute strength,” said Kim.