(2nd LD) S. Korea vows 'unendurable' measures vs. N. Korea over trash balloons, mulls loudspeaker campaign

(ATTN: RECASTS headline; UPDATES throughout with new information)

SEOUL, June 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will take "unendurable" measures against North Korea for sending trash-filled balloons across the border, Seoul's top security official said Sunday.

"North Korea's flying of trash balloons and GPS jamming are such despicable provocations that could not have been imagined by a normal country," National Security Adviser Chang Ho-jin said.

Chang was speaking after presiding over a meeting of the National Security Council, the first such gathering over Pyongyang's balloon operations.

Another high-ranking official in the presidential office said steps by South Korea include the possible resumption of propaganda campaigns via loudspeakers along the border.

"We will not rule out the possibility of restarting our loudspeaker campaign," the official said, on the condition of anonymity. "And we will obviously take all the steps as necessary."

Earlier in the day, South Korea's military said North Korea has been sending the trash-carrying balloons to the South since Saturday, despite the South warning it would take "unendurably" painful measures against such provocative acts.

Also Sunday, a South Korean military source claimed, "Loudspeakers against North Korea are ready to resume at any time."

South Korea's propaganda campaign via loudspeakers had temporarily resumed in 2010, 2015 and 2016 in the wake of the North's provocations.

The balloons carried various pieces of trash, such as cigarette butts, paper and plastic bags, just like the previous balloons, according to Seoul's military.

North Korea previously sent around 260 balloons carrying trash and excrement to the South on Tuesday and Wednesday after it warned of a "tit-for-tat action" against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent by the South's activists.

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