In a continuing campaign of launching balloons loaded with trash across the heavily armed border, North Korea sent its garbage-filled balloons soaring towards South Korea once again. This time, some of the balloons managed to hit a highly symbolic target - the presidential office in the heart of Seoul, the capital.

Since May, North Korea has released over 3,000 trash balloons, with many reaching the South after floating across the Demilitarized Zone between the two nations. While they have been a nuisance, the balloons have yet to pose any danger, landing on trees, farms, and urban side streets, dispersing waste paper, used cloth, cigarette butts, and compost.

On Wednesday, some of the balloons landed inside the sprawling 68-acre compound in central Seoul, which houses the presidential office of President Yoon Suk Yeol. The precise number of landing balloons was not disclosed, but it was confirmed that the payloads were later inspected by a chemical, biological, and radiological response team. South Korea's presidential security service reported that the team found "nothing dangerous or contaminating" in the balloon payloads.

The balloon campaign echoes the Cold War tactics of the two Koreas, using propaganda leaflets to condemn each other's governments. Although such psychological warfare had diminished since the first summit meeting between the leaders of the Koreas in 2000, North Korean defectors living in the South recently revived the strategy by launching their own leaflet balloons into the North as a private propaganda campaign.

North Korea retaliated by initiating the trash balloon releases, citing it as a response to the South Korean defectors' political "filth." South Koreans have become accustomed to receiving government text alerts regarding the latest fleet of North Korean balloons, advising them to watch the skies and avoid touching the payloads.

As a response to the balloons, the South Korean military has turned on high-powered loudspeakers along the Demilitarized Zone, broadcasting K-pop songs and news into the North. The North Korean regime, known for its total information blackout and personality cult surrounding its leader, Kim Jong-un, vehemently opposes the infiltration of outside information.

Last month, the South Korean government released a report highlighting human rights abuses in the North, accusing Kim Jong-un of cracking down on South Korean cultural influence. The report revealed instances of seizing citizens' cellphones to monitor their exposure to South Korean TV dramas. The North even banned traditional wedding practices, such as brides wearing white dresses and grooms carrying their brides on their backs, condemning them as "reactionary" behaviors from the South.

The ongoing balloon battle between Kim Jong-un's government and the South Korean defectors shows no signs of letting up, with both sides accusing each other of resorting to "crude and dirty" tactics. Kim Yo-jong, Kim Jong-un's sister and spokeswoman, warned that the North had discovered balloons from the South in "deep areas" of the isolated nation, not just near the border. She vowed that specialized organs were actively searching, disposing, and incinerating them, causing inconveniences to the citizens.

The tension between the two Koreas continues to escalate, with the North threatening that the South will pay a "gruesome and dear price" if they persist in their actions. The North also hinted at changing its "mode of counteraction," suggesting that the balloon warfare might evolve in the future.