The U.S. Army's Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, South Korea, is pictured on April 2, 2024. (Luis Garcia/Stars and Stripes)

CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — Balloons carrying trash from North Korea fell Wednesday on the South Korean presidential compound and Yongsan Garrison in Seoul.

The Yongsan Fire Station responded to a 7:33 a.m. report of trash-laden balloons on the U.S. Army base, a firefighter told Stars and Stripes that day by phone. A Presidential Security Service officer said similar balloons fell in the presidential compound, but none landed on the Presidential Office Building.

None of the trash at the presidential compound contained hazardous waste or contaminants, according to a news release from the security service. The waste was collected by 9 a.m., said a spokesman for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Government officials in South Korea customarily speak to the media on condition of anonymity.

U.S. Forces Korea did not respond Wednesday to requests by phone and email for further information.

A spokesman for the crime prevention and response section at the Yongsan Police Station said sentries prevented local police and firemen from entering Yongsan Garrison, much of which is vacant following the Army’s relocation to Camp Humphreys farther south.

Troops at Yongsan later said they would clean up the trash balloons on their own, the police spokesman said by phone Wednesday.

The contents of several balloons were also discovered in Itaewon, a city district near Yongsan and the South Korean government offices, according to a report Wednesday by News 1, a South Korean news agency.

Since May 28, North Korea has sent thousands of balloons carrying bags of trash and manure across its southern border.

On June 3, a balloon carrying black plastic bags filled with trash and cloth landed near the elementary school on Osan Air Base. The trash was deemed not a threat.

Pyongyang says the balloon campaigns are retaliation against South Korean human rights activists who sent their own balloons containing money, rice, radios and anti-Pyongyang leaflets across the border.

The balloon campaigns resulted in South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol suspending a military deconfliction agreement with the North on June 4.

The balloons discovered Wednesday arrived days after South Korea announced it will expand loudspeaker broadcasts at the border with North Korea, according to The Associated Press that day. The loudspeakers blare propaganda, world news and K-Pop, according to an NBC News report Sunday.

North Korea has not officially responded to the broadcasts, but Kim Yo Jung, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, warned that South Korean “scum” must be ready to pay “a gruesome and dear price” for their actions, according to AP.

North Korea has taken advantage of the wind direction to fly the balloons to South Korea, and some balloons in past launches had timers that may be used to pop the bags of trash midair, according to the report.

The balloons have caused no major damage, but they have raised concerns that North Korea could use them to drop chemical and biological agents, the AP reported.