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6 Americans caught trying to send rice, Bible to North Korea
Activists floating plastic bottles or flying balloons or distributing anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets has long caused tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Six Americans were detained on Friday in South Korea for trying to send 1,600 plastic bottles filled with rice, US dollars bills and Bibles toward North Korea by sea, police said. According to a police officer who spoke to AP on conditions of anonymity, the Americans tried to throw the bottles in the sea from the front-line of Gwanghwa Island so they could float toward North Korean shores by the tides.
The news about the detention of Americans was confirmed by another police officer, however the officer gave no further details regarding the incident.
Past incidents of anti-North Korean propaganda
This is however not an isolated incident, activists floating plastic bottles or flying balloons or distributing anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets has long caused tensions on the Korean Peninsula. In the past, North Korea has expressed its anger at such incidents. Last year North Korea launched its own balloons carrying trash into South Korea, including at least two occasions it landed in the presidential compound.
In 2023, South Korea Court struck down a law that criminalised the sending of leaflets and other items to North Korea, citing it as an excessive restriction on free speech. But since the new liberal government of President Lee Myung took over, he has been strict against the civilian campaigns to avoid any flare up of tension with North Korea.
In a similar incident, on June 14, police detained an activist for allegedly flying balloons toward North Korea from Gwanghwa Island. President Lee’s government has promised to restart the talks with North Korea and establish peace. Lee also stopped the frontline anti-Pyongyang propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts to try to ease military tensions.
Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether North Korea will also respond to these attempts by the South after the North vowed to sever relations with South Korea last year and abandon the goal of peaceful Korean reunification.
(With AP Inputs)
