According to Jeong Joon-hee, a spokesman for South Korea’s unification ministry spokesman who addressed the matter on Friday (April 8), the defectors left partly because their business took a hit.
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North Korea criticized China’s unusual reaction via its statement.
The report comes at a time when North Korea has stepped up provocations with an announced nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February, which was for the “peaceful” goal of sending a satellite into space, according to Pyongyang. “Countries like China and Russian Federation don’t let them leave the country, citing the special relationship with the two Koreas”, Kim Seung-cheol, a defector activist who manages a broadcasting service for North Koreans, told NK News.
“The government of the Republic of Korea strongly urges DPRK to stop its Global Positioning System jamming without further delay”, Oh wrote.
North Korea on Tuesday made its first comments on the defection of 13 North Korean restaurant workers from China by claiming Seoul “lured and abducted” them. The North Korean government operates more than 130 restaurants in a dozen countries to earn hard currency that is sent back to Pyongyang. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang confirmed that the defectors had not entered China illegally, but had “valid exit documents” as well as work permits, and China had no participation in their escape. Although individuals have defected to South Korea from such restaurants in the past, this month’s 13 are unique in that they defected as a group.
But the announcement of the colonel’s defection is part of a larger story. The 12 restaurant workers and one manager defected to Seoul last week, marking the first mass defection of North Koreans to South Korea since 2011. The leaflets also denounce the North Korean government for human rights situation. The public acknowledgment of defections is unusual, and government policy has typically been to keep these events quiet so as not to endanger remaining family members in the North (or other defectors that might be en route or considering such a move).
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“Look, Obama, the US has been threatening the stability and peace of that small country in the East for more than 70 years, and such an act is so shameful that I can’t bear to see the USA obstructing the people’s development”, the imaginary North Korean Lincoln wrote. Moreover, these defections might start to reveal more about elite behavior in North Korea.
