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| Six Americans arrested for trying to smuggle rice into North Korea | |
| 2025-06-28 | |
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] Six Americans have been detained in South Korea for trying to send 1,600 plastic bottles filled with rice, miniature Bibles, $1 bills, and USB sticks to North Korea.
Authorities caught the suspects before they could throw the bottles into the sea so they could float toward North Korean shores, two Gwanghwa police officers said. They noted that the Americans are being investigated on allegations they violated law on the management of safety and disasters. The officers refused to provide personal details of the Americans in line with privacy rules. Gwanghwa police said they haven't yet found what is on the USB sticks. 'Because the suspects do not speak Korean fluently, we plan to conduct further questioning with the assistance of an interpreter,' they said. The US 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 containing South Korean dramas and K-pop songs. The practice that was banned from 2021-2023 over concerns it could inflame tensions with the North. North Korea responded to previous balloon campaigns with fiery rhetoric and other shows of anger. Last year, the country launched its own balloons across the border, dumping garbage on various South Korean sites including the presidential compound. South Korea's Constitutional Court struck down a controversial law in 2023 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. Police detained an activist on June 14 for allegedly flying balloons toward North Korea from Gwanghwa Island. Police created a dedicated task force to prevent items crossing the border into the North, in response to Friday's arrests. 'We will strengthen coordination with relevant bodies to completely block these leaflet operations and respond strictly to any violations according to the law,' they said. 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 US-led diplomacy on North Korean denuclearization derailed. | |
| Posted by:Skidmark |