Seoul declines to react to North Korea's call to return defected restaurant workers
- 6 years ago
The South Korean government says it has nothing to say regarding the recent warning from North Korea's main propaganda website... that if the North Korean restaurant workers who defected to the South aren't returned,... then the planned reunions for war-separated families in August may be in jeopardy.
Seoul's Unification Ministry says that, in its coordination on the family reunions up until now, Pyongyang has not brought up the issue... nor linked it to the family reunions.
According to the ministry, renovations are well underway at the North's Mount Kumgang resort for next month's reunions.
In April 2016, 12 North Korean waitresses and one restaurant manager escaped from a Pyongyang-run restaurant in China and defected to South Korea.
It was initially understood that they came voluntarily.
But their defection has been controversial... after the manager told a South Korean broadcaster that the defectors were in fact "abducted" by an official from Seoul's national intelligence agency.
Seoul's Unification Ministry says that, in its coordination on the family reunions up until now, Pyongyang has not brought up the issue... nor linked it to the family reunions.
According to the ministry, renovations are well underway at the North's Mount Kumgang resort for next month's reunions.
In April 2016, 12 North Korean waitresses and one restaurant manager escaped from a Pyongyang-run restaurant in China and defected to South Korea.
It was initially understood that they came voluntarily.
But their defection has been controversial... after the manager told a South Korean broadcaster that the defectors were in fact "abducted" by an official from Seoul's national intelligence agency.