SEOUL, North Korea launched balloons presumed to be carrying trash toward South Korea late Tuesday, Seoul's military said, just a day after it sent hundreds of similar balloons across the border. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said an unspecified number of balloons flown by the North appeared to be travelling in a southeastern direction from the northern part of Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul. It advised the public not to touch fallen balloons and report them to military or police authorities. With the latest batch, which marked the sixth balloon launch since May 28, North Korea is estimated to have sent more than 2,000 trash-carrying balloons. Earlier in the day, the JCS said North Korea sent around 350 trash-carrying balloons toward South Korea since Monday night, with some 100 balloons landing in Seoul and in the northern part of Gyeonggi Province. Most of the retrieved balloons carried scrap paper and waste, with an analysis of the balloons showing they did not contain hazardous material. Seoul's military said it is ready to carry out loudspeaker broadcasts any time and warned the implementation of such psychological warfare would depend on North Korea's action. The latest launch came after Kim Yo-jong, the influential sister of the North's leader, hinted Friday at sending more balloons in response to anti-Pyongyang leaflets launched by North Korean defectors in South Korea. In response, South Korea blared anti-Pyongyang broadcasts through its border loudspeakers on June 9 for the first time in six years. But it switched off the loudspeakers the next day in an apparent bid to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control. For years, North Korean defectors in South Korea and conservative activists have sent anti-Pyongyang leaflets to the North using balloons, aiming to encourage North Koreans to rise up against the North's ruling regime. North Korea has strongly opposed the propaganda campaign, fearing that an influx of outside information could threaten the leadership of its regime. Source: Yonhap News Agency