Overview

• Six U.S. citizens were arrested on June 27 at Ganghwado Island for attempting to send about 1,600 plastic bottles filled with rice, miniature Bibles, dollar bills and USB sticks toward North Korea.
• Ganghwado police have launched an investigation into the suspects and are withholding personal data while they examine the contents of the USB sticks.
• The Lee administration has tightened enforcement of cross-border activism under a policy aimed at reinforcing border security and supporting inter-Korean talks.
• Humanitarian and informational campaigns using bottle posts and balloons have long been employed by activists to penetrate North Korea’s information blockade.
• North Korea has previously retaliated to such campaigns by dispatching its own balloons to drop trash into South Korean territory.