Six US nationals were taken into custody in South Korea near a restricted border area with North Korea.
Published On 27 Jun 2025
South Korean authorities have detained six United States citizens who were attempting to send an estimated 1,300 plastic bottles filled with rice, US dollar bills and Bibles to North Korea by sea, according to news reports.
The US suspects were apprehended in the early hours of Friday morning after they were caught trying to release the bottles into the sea from Gwanghwa island, near a restricted front-line border area with North Korea, South Korea’s official Yonhap news agency reports.
The six were taken into custody after a coastal military unit guarding the area reported them to the police. The area in question is restricted to the public after being designated a danger zone in November due to its proximity to the north.
Activists floating plastic bottles or flying balloons across South Korea’s border with the north have long caused tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
An administrative order banning the launch of anti-Pyongyang propaganda towards the north is already in effect for the area, according to Yonhap.
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