Trash-carrying balloons sent by North Korea are spotted in skies above Seoul in this file photo taken Oct. 8. Yonhap

North Korea floated balloons likely carrying trash toward South Korea, Saturday, the South's military said, following a similar launch last week.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff raised the possibility of the balloons floating to Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul, and the eastern province of Gangwon.

Since late May, the North has launched more than 5,000 trash balloons to South Korea in retaliation against anti-Pyongyang leaflets launched by activists and North Korean defectors in the South.

On Friday, a spokesperson for the North's Ministry of Public Security said that "rubbish scattered by a large balloon sent by the ROK scum was found again," referring to the South by its formal name, the Republic of Korea.

South Korea's military has vowed to take "stern" military measures should North Korea "cross the line" with its ongoing trash balloon campaign or inflict serious damage to the South Korean people.

In response to the balloon launches, the South's military has been blasting daily anti-North Korean propaganda broadcasts through loudspeakers along the border since July. It has refrained from directly shooting down the balloons, citing safety concerns. (Yonhap)