"This makes us nervous' Balloon wars raise stakes in the DMZ

Just a stone's throw from North Korea, farmer Park Se-un tends to his crops under the watchful eye of the South Korean military.

- Jan Camenzind

In the distance, past bushes and fields strewn with landmines, he can see North Korean soldiers on patrol.

Park's village of Daeseong-dong is the only inhabited area in the south of Korea's demilitarised zone (DMZ), at one point just 365 metres from North Korea. Born and raised inside this zone, Park is used to political tensions.

Described as "the scariest place on Earth" by Bill Clinton when he visited as president in 1993, the DMZ has served as a buffer between the two Koreas since their three-year conflict ended in 1953 with an armistice but not a peace treaty - meaning that the neighbours are still technically at war.

It has since become one of the most reliable indicators of the state of inter-Korean affairs and in recent weeks, events along the border suggest the region has entered a new period of tension and uncertainty.

The North has sent thousands of balloons over that scattered their contents manure, cigarette butts, used batteries, cloth scraps and wastepaper - on South Korean streets. Defector groups in the South have reciprocated with balloons whose cargo, including leaflets and USB sticks loaded with K-pop and K-dramas, are designed to undermine the legitimacy of the North's leader, Kim Jong-un.