Six US citizens detained for trying to send rice and Bibles to North Korea

The incident comes as South Korea’s new liberal government seeks to ease friction with Pyongyang and restart long-dormant talks.

Six American nationals were taken into custody in South Korea on Friday for trying to send 1,600 plastic bottles filled with rice, US dollar bills and Bibles to North Korea by sea, local police have reported.The group attempted to cast the bottles into the sea from the front-line Gwanghwa Island, hoping they drift toward the North Korean coast with the tide, according to a police office speaking on the condition of anonymity. The six are under investigation for potentially breaching the law on the management of safety and disasters.A second officer confirmed the detentions but did not provide further information. It is not clear whether any of the detainees have taken similar actions before. The use of floating bottles or balloons to send anti-North Korea materials — ranging from propaganda leaflets to religious texts — has long been a source of friction on the Korean Peninsula. Retaliating to material sent from its neighbour's territory, North Korea launched its own balloons containing waste into South Korea last year, with at least two reaching the presidential compound in Seoul. In 2023, South Korea’s Constitutional Court annulled a 2020 law that banned the sending of leaflets and other items to North Korea, deeming it an excessive restriction on free speech.However, the newly inaugurated liberal administration of President Lee Jae-myung hopes to curb such actions by using alternative public safety legislation, citing the need to de-escalate tensions with the North and safeguard residents living near the border.On 14 June, an activist was arrested for allegedly launching balloons from Gwanghwa Island.President Lee, who assumed office in June, has pledged to resume peace talks with North Korea and foster reconciliation. His administration also suspended his country's use of anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts to ease tensions with its neighbour. No reciprocal broadcasts have been detected from the North since the measure was introduced.Nonetheless, it remains uncertain whether Pyongyang will engage with Lee's overtures. North Korea declared last year it would cut ties with Seoul and abandon the goal of peaceful reunification.Inter-Korean dialogue has remained frozen since 2019, when broader denuclearisation talks between Pyongyang and Washington collapsed.