6 Americans arrested in South Korea for allegedly sending 1,300 bottles of rice and Bibles to North Korea

South Korean police said they arrested six American citizens on the 27th for trying to float about 1,300 plastic bottles filled with rice, US dollars and Bibles to North Korea.

AFP reported that local police said that when the six were arrested at 1:03 am today, they were trying to throw thousands of plastic bottles filled with rice, US $1 bills and Bibles into the sea off Kanghua Island.

Incheon Ganghwa Police Station investigators told AFP: “We have arrested and are questioning six American citizens aged between 20 and 50 who are suspected of violating the “Basic Law on Disaster and Safety Management.”

An official from the Incheon Ganghwa Police Station told Reuters that the six people committed the above-mentioned acts in a place recently designated as a “dangerous zone” and are suspected of violating the “Basic Law on Disaster and Safety Management”; the law prohibits activities in dangerous areas that are considered harmful to local residents.

“We are investigating these people through interpreters and will decide whether to release them in 48 hours,” the official said.

Ganghwa Island, located northwest of Seoul, is one of the South Korean territories closest to North Korea. Parts of the surrounding waters are only 10 kilometers from the maritime border between the two Koreas.

Ganghwa Island has long been a popular spot for non-profit organizations and anti-North Korea groups to drop rice and USB flash drives containing K-pop music and Korean dramas.

Yonhap News Agency reported that Ganghwa County was designated as a danger zone in November last year, and activities such as airdropping leaflets to North Korea were completely banned there.

Tensions between the two Koreas had previously risen sharply, but South Korean President Lee Jae-myung vowed to improve relations with neighboring North Korea after taking office in June this year.