
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.
The US nationals 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.
The six individuals were taken into custody after a coastal military unit guarding the area reported them to the police. The area has been restricted to the public after being designated a danger zone in November due to its proximity to North Korea. According to reports, the group planned to launch the bottles into the sea, relying on ocean currents to carry them to North Korea’s shores.
This incident has raised tensions on the Korean Peninsula, where activists floating plastic bottles or flying balloons across South Korea’s border with North Korea have long been a source of contention.
An administrative order banning the launch of anti-Pyongyang propaganda towards North Korea is already in effect for the area. In June, police detained an activist for allegedly flying balloons towards North Korea from Gwanghwa Island.
The detentions come as South Korea’s new liberal government, led by President Lee Jae-myung, is pushing to crack down on such civilian campaigns with safety-related laws.
Lee’s government aims 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.