North Korean Trash Balloons and International Law

In May 2024, North Korea introduced a new tactic to the inter-Korean drama: the launching of balloons full of trash into the South. To date, over 2,000 balloons of these balloons have been launched across the demilitarized zone, carrying a mixture of different types of waste as cargo. While they have led to little material damage, the trash balloons have raised tensions on the peninsula, and led to widespread condemnation, including on the grounds that they violate international law. In this paper I examine whether the launching of these balloons in fact does violate international law. I conclude that North Korea’s trash balloons contravene the terms of the Chicago and Basel Conventions, as well as customary international law on airspace sovereignty. However, I find that they can be legally justified as countermeasures, because the South Korean government has not taken appropriate measures to stop South Korean civil activists from launching balloons carrying political and religious leaflets into North Korean sovereign airspace.