Six Americans Detained in South Korea for Attempted Propaganda Bottle Drop Toward North Korea

A North Korean military guard post, left, and loudspeaker are seen from Paju, South Korea, near the border with North Korea, June 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Six Americans were detained in South Korea on Friday after attempting to send approximately 1,600 plastic bottles containing rice, U.S. dollar bills, and Bibles toward North Korea by sea, authorities confirmed. The group tried to release the bottles from Gwanghwa Island, a front-line area, hoping the tidal currents would carry the items across the border into North Korean territory.

South Korean police are investigating the Americans for allegedly violating laws related to safety and disaster management. Officials declined to provide additional details, including whether any of the detainees had prior involvement in similar attempts.

The use of plastic bottles and balloons to send propaganda materials or humanitarian aid toward North Korea has been a longstanding source of tension on the Korean Peninsula. In retaliation for South Korean balloon campaigns carrying anti-North Korean leaflets, Pyongyang has launched its own balloons carrying trash into South Korea. At least two of these balloons reportedly landed in the presidential compound in Seoul last year.

In 2023, South Korea’s Constitutional Court struck down a 2020 law that criminalized sending leaflets and other items to North Korea, ruling the legislation an excessive restriction on free speech. However, since President Lee Jae Myung’s administration took office in early June, there has been a renewed effort to curb civilian-led campaigns involving balloons and bottle drops. The government cites safety concerns for residents living near the border and seeks to reduce military tensions with North Korea through stricter enforcement of safety-related laws.

On June 14, authorities detained another activist for allegedly releasing balloons toward North Korea from Gwanghwa Island.

President Lee’s administration has pledged to restart peace talks with North Korea and has already ceased loudspeaker propaganda broadcasts from South Korea’s front-line areas. North Korean propaganda broadcasts have also stopped in South Korean border towns since this move. Despite these gestures, the likelihood of Pyongyang responding remains uncertain, especially following its 2023 declaration severing diplomatic ties with Seoul and abandoning the goal of peaceful reunification. Formal inter-Korean talks have been stalled since 2019 amid the breakdown of U.S.-led denuclearization diplomacy.