Concerns are mounting over the fate of six Americans detained in South Korea for attempting to send 1,600 bottles filled with Bibles, rice, $1 bills, and USB drives towards North Korea by sea.

The group was caught last month on Ganghwa Island, close to the North Korean border, and is under investigation for allegedly violating South Korea’s safety and disaster management laws.

The US State Department said it was aware of the incident, but declined to disclose the Americans’ identities or to provide further comment, citing privacy concerns.

Eric Foley, head of advocacy group Voice of the Martyrs Korea (VOMK), said the arrests stirred memories of his own legal troubles in 2020 for sending Bibles to the North via balloon.

CHRISTIANS FACE INCREASED SCRUTINY IN SOUTH KOREA

He stressed that while his group has no ties to those detained, the incident could lead to “increased scrutiny of Christian outreach” efforts to North Korea.

Worthy News reports Christian groups fear their arrest might hamper long-standing initiatives to reach North Koreans with faith-based materials.

“So many have paid a high price to get God’s word into North Korea,” an autocratically ruled nation, Mr. Foley said.

“Uncoordinated actions risk jeopardising that work.”

SOUTH KOREANS TRYING TO RESUME DIALOGUE WITH THE NORTH

South Korea’s recently elected President Lee Myung is trying to re-establish dialogue with Pyongyang and has called for a halt to provocative acts” like leaflet drops and bottle launches.”

Yet organisations such as the US-based Defense Forum Foundation, which partners with North Korean defectors, say such efforts remain vital.

Its president, Suzanne Scholte, questioned the veracity of the arrest of the six Americans, suggesting it might be “a tactic” to intimidate activists.

Jongho Kim of the Christian-oriented Northeast Asia Reconciliation Initiative cautioned that unauthorised actions could threaten fragile diplomatic efforts.

“Even well-intentioned missions can harden the soil rather than prepare it for the Gospel,” he warned.

BIBLES STILL BEING SMUGGLED INTO NORTH KOREA

Despite border closures and growing restrictions, VOMK says it delivers thousands of Bibles annually to North Korea, often one or two at a time.

Eric Foley urged Christians to ask underground believers what kind of help they truly need in the communist nation, rather than acting independently.

“Patience and listening are key because the soil in North Korea is being prepared — even if we don’t always see the harvest yet.”

UP TO 70,000 CHRISTIANS IN NORTH KOREAN PRISON CAMPS

It’s believed up to 70,000 Christians are held in North Korean prison camps where they face torture and possible death, according to Christian rights investigators.

“If your Christian faith is discovered in North Korea, you could be killed on the spot,” said persecution watchdog Open Doors.

“If you aren’t killed, you will be deported to a labour camp and treated as a political criminal.”

“You will be punished with years of hard labour that few survive.”

“And it’s not only you who will be punished: North Korean authorities are likely to round up your extended family and punish them too, even if they aren’t Christians.”

GENUINE CHURCHES DON’T EXIST IN NORTH KOREA

Open Doors said: “There is no church life in North Korea beyond the propaganda churches in Pyongyang.”

“It’s impossible to gather for worship or prayer, and even secret worship and prayer are at great risk.”

“Official spies could inform on you if they have any indication that you are a Christian, and so could your neighbors or teachers.” 

There are believed to be 400,000 Christians living among North Korea’s roughly 26 million people.

Many are taking risks to worship God instead of ‘Supreme Leader’ Kim Jong Un.

HARSH CONSEQUENCES OF WORSHIPPING ANY DEITY OTHER THAN ‘SUPREME LEADER’

“Recognising any deity beyond the Kim family is considered a threat to the country’s leadership,” explained Open Doors.

Anti-reactionary thought laws enacted in December 2020 make it clear that being a Christian or owning a Bible is a serious crime and will be severely punished.

According to official reports, the authorities publicly executed about 30 middle-school students (early teenagers) for watching a Korean drama on a USB drive.

Several teenagers (17 years old) were sentenced to life imprisonment or death for similar reasons in June and July last year.

A North Korean government official disclosed that several residents were sentenced to labour reform for picking up plastic bottles containing cooking rice sent from South Korea.

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