Hello Kitty, parasites: Inside North Korea trash balloons according to South

SEOUL: Among the trash that balloons carried over the border from North Korea were articles printed with Hello Kitty characters, badly worn clothing, and soil containing traces of human faeces and parasites, South Korea said on Monday (Jun 24).

North Korea has flown balloons carrying trash since late May, with hundreds landing in South Korea. South Korea deployed military explosives units and chemical and biological warfare teams to inspect the objects.

The items also included clothes that had been donated from the South that were slashed and cut up, and general trash that appeared to be hastily collected, the South’s Unification Ministry, which handles the North, said in a report.