SEOUL, South Korea — Six Individuals have been detained Friday in South Korea for attempting to ship 1,600 plastic bottles full of rice, U.S. greenback payments and Bibles towards North Korea by sea, police mentioned.
The Individuals tried to throw the bottles into the ocean from front-line Gwanghwa Island so they might float towards North Korean shores by the tides, mentioned a police officer who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of he was not approved to talk to media on the problem. He mentioned they have been being investigated on allegations that they violated the regulation on the administration of security and disasters.
A second South Korean police officer confirmed the detentions of the Individuals.
The law enforcement officials gave no additional particulars, together with whether or not any of the six had made earlier makes an attempt to ship bottles towards North Korea.
Activists floating plastic bottles or flying balloons carrying anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets throughout the border has lengthy brought about tensions on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea expressed its anger on the balloon campaigns by launching its personal balloons carrying trash into South Korea, together with at the very least two that landed within the presidential compound in Seoul final 12 months.
In 2023, South Korea’s Constitutional Court docket struck down a 2020 regulation that criminalized the sending of leaflets and different objects to North Korea, calling it an extreme restriction on free speech.
However since taking workplace in early June, the brand new liberal authorities of President Lee Jae Myung is pushing to crack down on such civilian campaigns with different safety-related legal guidelines to keep away from a flare-up tensions with North Korea and promote the protection of front-line South Korean residents.
On June 14, police detained an activist for allegedly flying balloons towards North Korea from Gwanghwa Island.
Lee took workplace with a promise to restart long-dormant talks with North Korea and set up peace on the Korean Peninsula. Lee’s authorities halted front-line anti-Pyongyang propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts to attempt to ease navy tensions. North Korean broadcasts haven’t been heard in South Korean front-line cities since then.
It stays unclear whether or not North Korea will reply to Lee’s conciliatory gesture after it vowed final 12 months to sever relations with South Korea and abandon the objective of peaceable Korean reunification. Official talks between the Koreas have been stalled since 2019, when the U.S.-led diplomacy on North Korean denuclearization derailed.
