Crash landing of poo: Waste-filled balloons from North Korea contain parasites

Trash-filled balloons sent from North Korea to South Korea reportedly contained parasites, though no "harmful substances" were found.

The findings were reported by Seoul's Unification Ministry on Monday (Jun. 25), according to Korean media Yonhap.

North Korea has flown more than 2,000 balloons carrying trash and animal excrement, among other things, into South Korea since May 28, 2024.

Parasites detected

Seoul's Unification Ministry on Monday (Jun. 24) said that parasites have been detected in some of these trash-filled balloons.

The findings were made after examining 70 balloons.

"Numerous parasites, such as roundworms, whipworms and threadworms, were found in the soil contained in the trash," the ministry said in a press release.

They added that these parasites are believed to stem from human excrement.

No ordinary household waste

These balloons reportedly also carry ruined clothes, such as neckties and blue jackets, which are believed to have been cut with scissors or knives.

The clothes are found to be items which were previously sent to North Korea by a South Korean company.

Most of these trash-filled balloons do not carry ordinary household waste, a move which the Unification Ministry believes is meant to prevent the disclosure of North Koreans' daily lives to the outside world.

"Express extreme hostility"

The Unification Ministry believed that North Korea sent these damaged items, which originated from South Korea, to "express extreme hostility" towards the leaflet campaigns and to "highlight the adversarial stance" against their southern counterpart.

The leaflet campaigns refer to propaganda acts carried out by North Korean defectors and South Korean activists.

These activists would send balloons carrying cash, prohibited media content, and Choco Pies, a popular South Korean snack banned in North Korea, according to BBC.

North Korean defectors and South Korean activists have regularly sent balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets.

North Korea has repeatedly criticised and called for a stop to the leafleting campaign, after South Korea's Constitutional Court in September 2023 scrapped a 2020 law that criminalised the sending of anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets to North Korea.

North Korea's Vice Defence Minister Kim Gang Il criticised these propaganda leaflets, calling them a "dangerous provocation".

Top image via @dy1843dy/X and Naver.