South Korean authorities have detained six United States citizens who were attempting to send an estimated 1,300 plastic bottles filled with rice, US dollar bills and Bibles to North Korea by sea, according to news reports.
The US suspects were apprehended in the early hours of Friday morning after they were caught trying to release the bottles into the sea from Gwanghwa island, near a restricted front-line border area with North Korea, South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency reports.
The six were taken into custody after a coastal military unit guarding the area reported them to the police. The area in question is restricted to the public after being designated a danger zone in November due to its proximity to the north.
Activists floating plastic bottles or flying balloons across South Korea’s border with the north have long caused tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
An administrative order banning the launch of anti-Pyongyang propaganda towards the north is already in effect for the area, according to Yonhap.
On June 14, police detained an activist for allegedly flying balloons towards North Korea from Gwanghwa Island.
Two South Korean police officers confirmed the detentions of the six with The Associated Press news agency but gave no further details.
In 2023, South Korea’s Constitutional Court struck down a 2020 law that criminalised the sending of leaflets and other items to North Korea, calling it an excessive restriction on free speech.
But since taking office in early June, the new liberal government of President Lee Jae-myung is pushing to crack down on such civilian campaigns with other safety-related laws to avoid a flare-up in tensions with North Korea and promote the safety of front-line South Korean residents.
Lee took office with a promise to restart long-dormant talks with North Korea and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula. His government has halted front-line anti-Pyongyang propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts, and similar North Korean broadcasts have not been heard in South Korean front-line towns since then.
It remains unclear if North Korea will respond to Lee’s conciliatory gesture after it pledged last year to sever relations with South Korea and abandon the goal of peaceful Korean reunification.
Official talks between the Koreas have been stalled since 2019, when the US-led diplomacy on North Korean denuclearisation derailed.
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