S. Korean Military Vows ‘Stern’ Measures against N. Korea

South Korea's military on Monday vowed to take "stern" military measures should North Korea "cross the line" with its ongoing trash balloon campaign or inflict serious damage to the South Korean people. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) of South Korea made the remark in a statement in response to the North's repeated launch of trash-carrying balloons across the border, including those attached with timer devices that could potentially cause fires, according to South Korea's News Agency (Yonhap). Since late May, the North has launched some 5,500 balloons carrying trash on over 22 occasions in retaliation against anti-Pyongyang leaflets. While there may be inconveniences and difficulties caused by North Korea's trash balloons, our fundamental measure to eradicate them is to show that 'there is nothing to gain for the North Korea, the JCS said in the statement. "Still, if serious danger is caused to the safety of our citizens or if the North is assessed to have crossed the line, our military will take stern m ilitary measures," it added, without elaborating on what the threshold will be. In response to the balloon launches, the South's military has been blasting daily anti-North Korean propaganda broadcasts through loudspeakers on the border since July 21. Source: Qatar News Agency