Trash balloons sent by North Korea cause regular disruptions at Seoul’s airports

SEOUL - South Korea has been forced to repeatedly shut down runways at Seoul’s two main airports since June due to disruption from balloons carrying trash launched by North Korea, said a South Korean lawmaker on Sept 25, citing aviation data.

On 20 different days since June 1, all or some runways at Incheon and Gimpo airports were closed for landings or take-offs, or both, when balloons were detected in the vicinity, said Democratic Party MP Yang Bu-nam in a statement.

In total, the closures lasted 413 minutes.

Since late May, North Korea has launched more than 5,500 balloons with

bags of trash attached to them,

saying it was responding to balloons carrying propaganda leaflets flown by South Korean activists.

The balloons are carried by wind and some have dropped in the South, including near the presidential office and on airport runways.

While most were removed by the authorities without incident, some have disrupted airport traffic and

caused small fires

.

On June 26, Incheon airport’s runways were closed for a total of 166 minutes – the most over 24 hours – according to aviation official data released by Mr Yang’s office.

On Sept 23, take-offs and landings were suspended at Incheon, the world’s fifth-busiest international airport and an important cargo hub, for a total of 90 minutes.

The balloons have also disrupted operations at Gimpo, which is on the western edge of the capital Seoul and mostly serves domestic flights.

An airline official said the North Korean balloon campaign had complicated flight operations – in some cases, increasing the amount of fuel carried by planes in case of delays in the air or diversions to alternative airports.

An aviation authority official said decisions to close runways were made each time a balloon is detected, factoring in conditions and not based on a specific distance they are from the airport.

South Korea’s military has said it uses surveillance assets to track the balloons, starting from when they are launched, but its position has been to not shoot them down despite calls by some MPs and civic groups, citing potential safety risks.

On Sept 23, the military said it was

ready to take “stern military action”

if it believed the North had “crossed the line”, but declined to elaborate. REUTERS