Seoul says NKorean object that drew fire was likely balloon
SEOUL, Korea, Republic Of — South Korea’s military said an unidentified object that flew across the border from rival North Korea and prompted the South to respond with warning shots on Tuesday was probably a balloon carrying Pyongyang’s propaganda leaflets.
An official from the Defence Ministry said Wednesday that the military concluded that the object was most likely a balloon after analyzing information from radar and observation equipment. The official didn’t want to be named, citing office rules.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff in a statement on Tuesday said the military broadcast a warning to North Korea in response to the object before firing the warning shots, and also that the military bolstered its air surveillance.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, without citing a source, reported that the South fired about 90 machine-gun rounds into the air and toward North Korea. Local media had speculated the object was a North Korean military drone. North Korea often uses balloons to fly propaganda leaflets to the South.