[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Jisun] According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the 13th, some of the "trash balloons" launched by North Korea, which have been recovered by South Korean military forces, were found to be equipped with GPS tracking devices. These devices allow the balloons' real-time movement to be tracked.

The South Korean military is currently conducting experiments to analyze whether North Korea can use these GPS-equipped balloons to drop their payloads at specific targeted locations. By tracking the balloons' paths, the military aims to understand the potential for more deliberate targeting.

There are growing concerns that North Korea could use these balloons in a more aggressive, intentional manner. Previously, the North has used timers and heating devices to burst bags of waste mid-air. However, with GPS tracking, they could potentially burst the balloons remotely at precise locations, which could shift the nature of these actions towards more calculated attacks.

The military is also examining the timing and locations chosen by North Korea to release these balloons.

Since May of this year, North Korea has launched over 6,000 trash balloons across 28 separate incidents. Each balloon is estimated to cost around 100,000 won to produce, with the total expenditure so far reaching approximately 600 million won. This amount, in North Korean terms, is significant enough to purchase over 1,000 tons of rice.

 

 

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