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By Micah McCartney
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South Korea has shared details about gunpowder detonators hooked up to the North's trash balloons and warned of the potential to start fires.
There is not sufficient gunpowder to cause an actual explosion but it could result in a fire if it comes into contact with flammable material, said an official.
The report followed a wave of approximately 120 North Korean balloons crossing into the South, Monday, South Korean defense authorities said.
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In an alert on social media by the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, people were warned not to stand beneath the balloons' payloads, not to approach fallen balloons, and to report them to the police or military.
During a press briefing, Joint Chiefs of Staff spokesperson Lee Sung-joon discussed the mechanism that causes the garbage bag to release from the balloon carrying it.
Trash balloons come with a heat-activated timer connected to a wire, which conveys heat from a small amount of gunpowder, Lee said, according to a defense ministry transcript. He stressed the gunpowder is not sufficient to cause an actual explosion but could result in a fire if it comes into contact with flammable material.
Lee said the country would take "decisive military measures" if the balloons crossed a line. He did not specify what this line would likely be but said he didn't believe it had been crossed yet.
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The spokesperson cited a report saying the infiltration rate of the balloons has increased since Pyongyang adopted the tactic in May. He cited a report saying some 97 percent were making it to South Korean territory.
This could result in a forest fire, which is why defense forces are exchanging information with government agencies and disseminating related information to the public in a timely manner Lee said.
The North Korean embassy in Beijing, China, did not immediately respond to a written request for response.
In August, Seoul blamed North Korean balloons for starting a forest fire near the border in the Gyeonggi Province city of Paju. No injuries were reported, and the local fire department was reportedly able to contain it within 20 minutes.
Last month, another balloon landed on a warehouse roof, also in Paju, and is believed to be behind the blaze that destroyed 3,550 feet of the rooftop over three hours.
The estimated 87 million won ($65,000) in damage was the most yet to be inflicted by such a balloon, local media cited fire department officials as saying.
Pyongyang has sent over 5,000 balloons on 25 different occasions since May, according to the South's Yonhap News Agency, with the last wave, on Friday, comprised 320.
The Kim Jong Un regime has said its balloon barrages are retaliation for anti-Kim propaganda sent north by activists in the South, which has included leaflets as well as South Korean music and television shows—both strictly banned in the communist country.
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