A physical altercation broke out on Monday between a group of seven anti-Pyongyang activists and local residents in the South Korean village of Samsanmyeon on the northwestern island of Ganghwa. The villagers blocked the only path to the local beach, preventing the activists from accessing the shore so that they could release packages intended for North Koreans into the Yellow Sea. Some 40 riot police officers rushed to the scene after the standoff between the two parties devolved into “shouting and shoving matches.”
According to the report, the activists – most of whom were North Korean defectors – had arrived in two vehicles containing over 100 plastic bottles, each packed with one kilogram of rice (about two pounds) and a sanitary mask. The group planned to release the bottles into the Yellow Sea in the hopes that they would reach North Koreans in need of the basic supplies.
The head of the local village, Kim Yun-tae, told the SCMP that although the activists seem well-meaning, plastic bottles from previous care package releases have often failed to reach the North Korean shore. Instead, Kim explains, the bottles wash back up on the South Korean shore, polluting local fish farms and creating unwanted trash accumulations on the beach.
“I understand very well the activists’ philanthropic intentions and we have no problems with aiding North Koreans, but this is not a right method to do so,” Kim said.
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