On June 28, 2024, South Korea reported that North Korea had once again started to launch balloons over to the South, carrying rubbish, such as paper, manure, and other disposable trash. This has been an ongoing feud between the two Koreas with North Korea starting the aggression around May 28, this year, which South Korea has been retaliating back by blasting K-pop songs and news as well as North Korean defectors sending over anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets. As ridiculous and childish as this sounds to be having this type of conflict, it is becoming increasingly dangerous in the anticipated case that N. Korea starts sending hazardous waste or bombs instead of sending harmless trash at the moment.

According to ABC News, Yoon Suk Yeol, South Korea’s president stated that the “North Korea’s balloon activities [are] “a despicable and irrational provocation””. Likewise, Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong, also stated that “those North Korea-born activists [are] “human scum” and “disgusting defectors”” which is in response to the mindset that North Korean defectors are betraying North Korea. This is to no surprise that these two sides would be complete opposites with strong opinions about the other.

As the world watches these events unfold, it does appear to be unprecedented and acts of child’s play. The Organization for World Peace (OWP) believes in peaceful resolution, not passive aggressive actions that will eventually lead to worse interactions between an already tense relationship between North and South Korea. It is not ideal to be communicating to each other in this manner when we know how high the risks and stakes are if things become more violent.

Almost as if it were a coincidence, the balloon “attack” comes around the anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War when North Korea began their offensive. North and South Korea are currently separated by the 38^th parallel since the end of World War II, but on occasion, there has been conflicts around the border that will just intensify if the balloons and the retaliation by South Korea is ongoing. Just recently, according to BBC, North Korean soldiers “accidentally” crossed the border, inciting South Korean soldiers to fire warning shots. Warning shots is only the beginning because it could have been worse.

To an outsider looking in, it appears like both North and South Korea do not understand the brevity of the situation they are in, considering that both sides are continuing their petty fighting. If both keeps escalating tensions with one another, bombs and nuclear threats might be next.