Balloons filled with trash launched from North Korea during the Chuseok holiday sparked a fire on the roof of a building in Seoul’s Gangseo District. There were also reports of balloons landing on key national facilities, including a public broadcasting building.
According to the fire authorities on September 16, a fire was reported at 9:04 p.m. the previous night on the roof of a four-story commercial building in Naebalsan-dong, Gangseo District. The Gangseo Fire Department received the call and responded with 15 vehicles and 56 personnel, extinguishing the fire by 9:22 p.m., just 18 minutes after the report.
The fire is believed to have started when a balloon filled with trash, launched by North Korea, landed on a sandwich panel roof. While the roof was scorched, there were no reported injuries.
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) reported that North Korea launched more than 120 trash-filled balloons from the afternoon into the night on the previous day. So far, around 40 debris pieces have been confirmed in northern Gyeonggi Province and Seoul.
The contents of the balloons, including paper, plastic, and bottles, were identified as general waste, with no hazardous materials detected, according to the JCS.
One of the balloons also landed at a new government-run Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) building, a critical state facility.
In an interview with Radio Free Asia (RFA) on September 16, Han Song-mi, a North Korean defector who fled in 2011, expressed her shock after receiving a warning from the South Korean government to beware of these trash-filled balloons.
“Chuseok is a major holiday in North Korea as well, so I was surprised to receive this message,” she said. Chuseok, or the Korean fall harvest celebration, is one of the biggest holidays celebrated by Koreans.
Han added, “Chuseok is a time for celebration, where families gather to make rice cakes, or if grains are scarce, they prepare vegetable dishes with great care. It’s unbelievable that even during Chuseok, they send these trash balloons. My friends, also defectors, and I agree that it’s an immature and dirty prank.”
Song Kwang-min, another defector from Hyesan, Yanggang Province, who escaped in 2012, shared his discomfort with RFA, saying, “As a defector, I feel uneasy. There has been damage here, to vehicles, buildings, and potentially people. It’s troubling, especially during a holiday meant for joy. I find it both unpleasant and upsetting.”
BY YOUNGNAM KIM [kim.youngnam@koreadaily.com]
