South Korean police have detained six American citizens who were trying to send about 1,300 plastic bottles filled with rice, dollar bills and Bibles to North Korea. This was reported by Reuters, citing a representative of the police station in the Ganghwa district of the city of Incheon, News.bg reports.
The group was intercepted by a military patrol on an island near the border with the isolated communist state as it prepared to release the bottles into the sea.
According to authorities, the detainees are suspected of violating South Korea's disaster and safety law, as they operated in an area declared as "risk". Activities that could endanger the safety of the local population, including campaigns with anti-North Korean messages, are prohibited in these areas.
Police are questioning the Americans with the help of an interpreter and must decide within 48 hours whether to release them or take further action.
South Korean President Lee Jae-myeon, who took office in early June, has pledged to reduce tensions on the peninsula. He has already stopped the use of propaganda loudspeakers along the border and called on activists to stop releasing balloons with leaflets against the regime in Pyongyang.
Unification Minister-designate Chung Dong-yong described such actions as a “catalyst for confrontation and hostility“ and expressed hope that communications with North Korea would be restored.