North Korea Sends Garbage

Tensions at the border between North and South Korea are rising after Pyongyang dropped nearly 300,000 propaganda leaflets south of the demilitarized zone, as well as trash that included hundreds of cigarette butts, according to South Korea police.

The airdrop of garbage is unprecedented and includes 600 cigarette butts, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

Police and Seoul's Defense Ministry, however, did not confirm an earlier news report that suggested used toilet paper was part of the Pyongyang package, The New York Times reported Thursday.

Local newspaper JoongAng Daily reported the garbage drop and its contents had placed officials on high alert and raised fears that North Korea was sending lethal biochemical agents to the South.

All material was dispatched from the North in balloons, timed to explode once they reached south of the border.

OK