S. Korea Suspends Flights at IIAC Due to N. Korean Trash Balloons

South Korea announced Monday that flights at Incheon International Airport Corporation (IIAC) were suspended twice this morning due to North Korean trash balloons. The IIAC said that the trash balloon was spotted in the air near the airport on Monday morning and that scheduled flights were suspended until it was confirmed that it had fallen into the sea, South Korea's News Agency (Yonhap) reported. Flights were also suspended again following the discovery of balloon waste in the warehouse inside the airport and in and around the air operations areas, and flights were later resumed. Authorities have been halting runway operations for safety, whenever the trash balloons approach the airport within a certain distance. The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said earlier today that North Korea floated some 120 balloons from Sunday evening to Monday morning in its latest launch. Since late May, the North has launched thousands of balloons carrying trash in retaliation against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sen t across the border by North Korean defectors and activists in South Korea. Source: Qatar News Agency