6 Americans detained in South Korea for trying to send rice and Bibles
to North Korea by sea
[June 27, 2025]
By HYUNG-JIN KIM
SEOUL,
South Korea (AP) — Six Americans were detained Friday in South Korea for
trying to send 1,600 plastic bottles filled with rice, miniature Bibles,
$1 bills and USB sticks toward North Korea by sea, police said.
The Americans were apprehended on front-line Gwanghwa Island before
throwing the bottles into the sea so they could float toward North
Korean shores on the tides, two Gwanghwa police officers said. They said
the Americans are being investigated on allegations they violated the
law on the management of safety and disasters. |
A North Korean military guard post, left, and loudspeaker are seen from
Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, June 12, 2025. (AP
Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File) |
|
The officers, who requested anonymity because they weren’t
authorized to speak to media on the issue, refused to provide
personal details of the Americans in line with privacy rules.
Gwanghwa police said they haven't found what is on the USB
sticks.
The U.S. Embassy in South Korea had no immediate public comment.
For years, activists have sought to float plastic bottles or fly
balloons across the border carrying anti-North Korea propaganda
leaflets and USB thumb drives carrying South Korean dramas and
K-pop songs, a practice that was banned from 2021-2023 over
concerns it could inflame tensions with the North.
North Korea has responded to previous balloon campaigns with
fiery rhetoric and other shows of anger, and last year the
country launched its own balloons across the border, dumping
rubbish on various South Korean sites including the presidential
compound.
In 2023, South Korea’s Constitutional Court struck down a
controversial law that criminalized 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 tensions with North Korea and promote the
safety of frontline South Korean residents.
On June 14, police detained an activist for allegedly flying
balloons toward North Korea from Gwanghwa Island.
Lee took office with a promise to restart long-dormant talks
with North Korea and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Lee's government halted frontline anti-Pyongyang propaganda
loudspeaker broadcasts to try to ease military tensions. North
Korean broadcasts have not been heard in South Korean front-line
towns since then.
But it's unclear if North Korea will respond to Lee's
conciliatory gesture after vowing 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 U.S.-led diplomacy on North Korean
denuclearization derailed.
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