South Korean children's balloons mistaken for parachuting North Koreans

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Telegraph

South Korean children's balloons mistaken for parachuting North Koreans
Balloons released into the sky by a kindergarten in South Korea sparked a security alert when the country's military mistook the formation for parachuting North Koreans.

Published: 11:39AM BST 18 Jun 2010

Amid growing military tensions between the North and South, Seoul mobilised troops and police early on Thursday after a resident of Ansan, 22 miles south-west of the South Korean capital, reported that 40 to 50 flying objects resembling parachutes had fallen on a mountain the previous night.

Upon inspection, the objects were identified as helium balloons released by children at a nearby school.

Tensions on the Korean peninsular have been high since the sinking of the South's warship earlier this year. Seoul has said that the ship was torpedoed by Pyongyang.

Earlier this month, an explosion Yeonpyeong Island, near the sea border with North Korea, along with the discovery of a diving suit on the island's shoreline, also sparked an alert.

A joint military and police investigation found that the diving suit was abandoned by a fisherman and the explosion was not suspicious.





Read more: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/southkorea/7837369/South-Korean-childrens-balloons-mistaken-for-parachuting-North-Koreans.html

[htuttle]

1. 99 Luftballons auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont...

[dipsydoodle]

2. I think your wit & humour might be largely lost here

so to help : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14IRDDnEPR4

:hi:

[htuttle]

3. We should have listened to Nena!

I don't think this is the first time something like this happened. Weren't there a number of other incidents during the Cold War, not involving balloons, but things like birds, etc...?

[dipsydoodle]

5. Cats ?

Acoustic Kitty was CIA cat with mission to bug Kremlin : http://mprofaca.cro.net/spycats.html

And just for you : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_00bbE9oxQ

:hi:

[Javaman]

8. yes, plus...

she was hot. ;) LOL

[conscious evolution]

4. My first thought also.

[Prometheus Bound]

6. Their balloon detection system seems to be far superior to their submarine detection systems.

Not sure how secure that makes S Koreans feel.

[Javaman]

7. were they red? nt

[NBachers]

9. Rodan speeding along Korean peninsula, battling Ghidra

[mbperrin]

11. Any Mothra sightings yet?

Don't forget the Blob!

[mbperrin]

12. Oh, no!

도움! 큰 괴물은 나의 내복을 먹고 있다!

[lordcommander]

10. North Koreans have paratroopers??

:o

[Poll_Blind]

13. It sounds funny and absurd to us, but given the history of NK infiltrations...

...it's not so kooky a thing to be concerned about. Of course, if it were a REAL North Korean infiltration, one of the parachutes would get hung up on a tree and they would all execute themselves before noon.

PB

[GreenStormCloud]

14. It was a PRIVATE CITIZEN, that called in about the "flying objects".

So the military came out to take a look and found ballons. It was a PRIVATE CITIZEN that made the mistake, not the military.