SEOUL (AFP) — North Korea has floated another 600 trash-filled balloons across the border, the South’s military said Sunday, with personnel in hazmat suits seen collecting piles of rubbish containing everything from cigarette butts to bits of cardboard and plastic.

South Korea has called the latest provocation from its nuclear-armed neighbor “irrational” and “low-class” but, unlike the spate of recent ballistic missile launches, the trash campaign does not violate United Nations sanctions on Kim Jong Un’s isolated regime.

Seoul has warned of strong countermeasures unless the North stops the balloon bombardment, saying it runs counter to the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War hostilities.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff called on the public to stay away from the rubbish heaps, though “no hazardous substances have been found.”

Around 900 balloons have been sent southwards by Pyongyang since Tuesday, the JCS said, adding that the latest wave began arriving late Saturday.

As of around 10 a.m. on Sunday, “approximately 600 balloons have been identified, with about 20 to 50 balloons per hour moving through the air.”

The balloons are landing in northern provinces, including the capital Seoul and the adjacent area of Gyeonggi, which are collectively home to nearly half of South Korea’s population.

The latest batch of balloons have been full of “waste such as cigarette butts, scrap paper, fabric pieces and plastic,” JCS said.

“Our military is conducting surveillance and reconnaissance from the launch points of the balloons, tracking them through aerial reconnaissance, and collecting the fallen debris, prioritizing public safety,” it said.

“We urge the public to avoid contact with the fallen waste balloons and report them to the nearest military unit or police station,” it added.

Balloon wars

South Korea’s National Security Council is expected to meet on Sunday to discuss a plan to respond to the balloons by resuming loudspeaker propaganda campaigns along the border with North Korea, Yonhap reported.

In the past, South Korea has broadcast anti-Kim propaganda into the North, which infuriates Pyongyang.

Activists in the South have also floated their own balloons over the border, filled with leaflets and sometimes cash, rice or USB thumb drives loaded with K-dramas.

Earlier this week, Pyongyang described its “sincere gifts” as a retaliation for the propaganda-laden balloons sent into North Korea.