Park Jung-oh, a North Korean activist, has not forgotten his homeland and launches bottles of rice into the sea in a bid to save lives. According to the BBC, the man has been sending out such bottles for almost a decade, however, things became more difficult in June 2020 after South Korea banned the sending of “anti-North Korea” material across the border. In September last year, the Constitutional Court overturned the ban, and the activist waited a few months to avoid drawing attention to himself. So, on 9 April, he returned to Seongmodo Island in South Korea to resume his daylight launches of plastic bottles. “We send the bottles because people in the same country are starving to death,” said the 56-year-old. Park left North Korea 26 years ago. His father was a spy for the country who decided to defect to the South, and the rest of the family was forced to follow. On several occasions, the man saw the bodies of people who had starved to death on the streets, and later he heard reports of starvation in the North Korean province of Hwanghae, an area that is supposed to be a rice-growing region, but where all the produce is apparently taken away. So, in 2015, he and his wife founded the Keun Saem group to send supplies to Hwanghae province in plastic bottles. The couple consulted local fishermen and the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology about the timing of high tides, and learned when best to release the bottles. On days when the water is flowing fastest, it takes four hours for them to reach the North. As well as a kilo of rice, the bottles contain a USB stick with K-pop and K-drama, videos comparing the two Koreas and a digital copy of the Bible. A one US dollar bill is also included, so that the recipients can exchange it for Chinese or North Korean currency. During the pandemic, the couple also put painkillers and face masks in the bottles. According to the man, a family of nine who defected from the North in 2023 told another defector that they had received the bottles, and sent a message of thanks to Park through him. Four years ago, another defector also thanked Park for saving her life. “North Koreans are isolated from the outside world. They obey the state without question, fearing the consequences of dissent. This is the least I can do to help them,” he said. Read Also: Russian deputy says he was the target of an assassination attempt. Here is the video (Portuguese version)