If President Yoon does not want catastrophe

North Korea has sent over 6,350 balloons to South Korea since May this year. In 2016 and 2017, when the North actively sent balloons carrying anti-South Korean leaflets, it released about 1,000 balloons each year. North Korea has released more than six times that number for the past five months.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon recently urged the South Korean military to respond more aggressively to the balloons filled with trash. The repeated fires caused by balloons with heat timers and gunpowder attached to make them burst have raised concerns for the mayor. What if a large forest fire breaks out in Bukhansan Mountain or Namsan Mountain? It could be catastrophic, causing loss of life.

The military’s attitude that there isn’t much to do and it is best to collect the balloons as soon as possible is practically taking no response at all. Time passes while many citizens’ daily lives are exposed to danger. Taking decisive military action after a fire breaks out and takes people’s lives away sounds like a wish for disaster.

In the meantime, North Korea sent balloons that contained raw criticism against President Yoon Suk Yeol and the first lady. The balloons landed at a state welcome ceremony where President Yoon welcomed a foreign head of state. North Korea must have aimed the balloons at the presidential office using the Global Positioning System (GPS). Each time the balloons were sent out, the South Korean military claimed that no substance posed a safety risk. But there is no guarantee that civilian lives will not be targeted with dangerous materials.

“President Yoon is the kind of person who waits until he’s been beaten down before he changes direction,” said a source who knows the president well. Personnel reshuffles are done when a specific fault is committed, when public opinion demands it, and when such changes are needed. Timing matters. If the president realizes the harsh public opinion against the First Lady and understands that it’s undermining his ability to run the country, he must act now unless he wants a catastrophe.