North Korea Sends Balloons of Cigarette Butts and Used Toilet Paper Across Border

North Korea has escalated its propaganda spat with South Korea by sending balloons across the border that are reportedly filled with cigarette butts and used toiled paper.

The action echoes North Korea’s rhetoric on the South, including that the country is rife with “political filth” and led by “human trash,” the New York Times reports. The balloon offensive is the latest in an exchange cross-border volleys since North Korea conducted a nuclear test in January.

Some of the balloons contained pamphlets calling South Korean President Park Geun-hye a “filthy president,” along with garbage. Korea JoongAng Daily newspaper reported Tuesday said the discovery raised concerns that the balloons were biochemically hazardous, but tests showed they just contained normal garbage.

Seoul responded to North Korea’s perceived aggression by blasting K-pop across the border with loudspeakers, designed to upset North Korea, where people are only allowed to listen to government-sanctioned music.

[New York Times]