Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


South Korea Blocks NGO From Sending Bibles, Rice to North

William Gallo

   INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA - South Korean police on Friday prevented a
   Christian activist group from sending aid and Bibles to North Korea,
   the latest evidence Seoul intends to prevent cross-border distributions
   that have angered Pyongyang.

   Voice of the Martyrs Korea, a Seoul-based nongovernmental organization,
   had planned to float about 500 bottles -- filled with rice, vitamins
   and Bibles -- into the North from South Korea's western coast.

   The activists were met by about two dozen local police officers,
   unidentified plainclothes officials, and local residents, who blocked a
   road near the intended launch site.

   A day earlier, North Korea lashed out at conservative activists who for
   years have floated giant balloons filled with anti-Pyongyang leaflets
   across the border.

   Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un,
   said North Korean defectors often involved in such activities are
   "riff-raffs," "human scum" and "mongrel dogs."

.