Balloons presumed to be carrying trash is shown in Hoengseong County, Gangwon Province, in this photo provided by Gangwon Fire Headquarters, Sept. 9. Yonhap

North Korea launched more than 160 balloons carrying trash toward South Korea last night to drop dozens of garbage bundles across northwestern parts of the country, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Thursday.

The JCS said it discovered some 30 trash bundles in northern parts of Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, and the capital area from the launches that began Wednesday evening and continued into the night.

The bundles consisted of household garbage, such as paper, plastic bottles and other pieces of plastic, while no hazardous substances have been found, it said.

Since late May, North Korea has launched thousands of trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea over 21 instances in retaliation against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent across the border by North Korean defectors and activists in the South. (Yonhap)