Have you heard about the garbage balloons from North Korea?

Since May, North Korea has been sending over 5,000 so-called 'garbage balloons' towards South Korea. (For your reference, WSJ reported here.) This is a retaliatory action because the former North Korean defector groups in South Korea have been sending balloons with $1 bills, rice, medicine, etc., into North Korea as humanitarian aid. North Korea sees these as a severe threat to their regime and responds with human excrement or garbage-filled balloons. Sadly, each North Korean balloon costs about $70 to launch, despite the severe hunger in the country.

Despite South Korea's demands to stop, North Korea continues to send these balloons, leading South Korea to resume psychological broadcasts via loudspeakers along the DMZ. These broadcasts are something North Korea fears more than any other bullets. Tensions at the DMZ are now high.

If you go to the DMZ, you can stop by the 'Dora Observatory,' guarded by South Korea's 1st Infantry Division. There's a café on the second floor where you can enjoy a coffee and look into North Korea out of windows.

Sometimes, you might see North Korean workers forced to labor in the rice paddy fields, and they don't notice you sipping coffee and looking down at them.😅

The observatory was temporarily closed from July 24 to September 13 due to the potential threat of North Korean attacks on the speakers, but it has recently reopened halfway. The third floor remains still closed for safety reasons, remembering when North Korean forces fired at our speakers in 2015. Hopefully, North Korea will stop sending their balloons, and we can reaccess the third floor ASAP!

This photo shows the Dora Observatory from a North Korean guard post. It's really close, isn't it? Do you think the café's windows are bulletproof? 🤷‍♂️✔️