AS ANYONE WHO has feuded with a neighbour knows, dumping rubbish over the hedge is a serious escalation. So imagine South Korea’s anger at the North, which has sent some 2,000 balloons, each carrying around 10kg of detritus, across the border since May 28th. The most recent bouquet, numbering around 350, started arriving on June 24th. According to the South, the bags contained paper, old clothing and parasites that probably originated in human faeces. Why is North Korea sending its rubbish south?

According to Kim Yo Jong, the North’s chief propagandist and sister of Kim Jong Un, its dictator, it is responding to balloons sent northwards. She has warned that the “goblins of liberal democracy” in South Korea will receive many more balloons in return for those they send towards the North.