Flying object that crossed border to S. Korea a 'balloon'

South Korea's military said an object, which flew across the border on Tuesday afternoon and triggered Seoul to fire warning shots and beef up its air defense posture, is "apparently a balloon" carrying propaganda leaflets from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Yonhap reported on Wednesday.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement on Tuesday that the object was detected flying across the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in Cheorwon, northeastern Gangwon province at around 4 p.m. local time (0700 GMT).

The South Korean troops fired around 90 warning shots with their K-3 machine guns.

About 10 flying objects were detected close to the MDL and several of them crossed it, said the Ministry of National Defense at a press briefing on Wednesday.

"Judging from the results of an analysis, (we) believe there is a low possibility that the objects were drones," the ministry's spokesman Moon Sang-gyun said, adding that Seoul assumes that the rest of the unidentified objects were also balloons used for propaganda purposes.

(CGTN)