13 North Korean restaurant workers defect to South

Thirteen North Koreans working at the same restaurant in a foreign country have defected to South Korea, Seoul officials said.

People working in North Korean-operated restaurants overseas have previously defected, but this is the first time multiple workers have escaped from the same restaurant, South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon Hee told reporters in Seoul.

North Korean defections are a bitter point of contention between the rival Koreas. Pyongyang usually accuses Seoul of enticing North Korean citizens to defect, something Seoul denies.

Overseas, North Korean workers are usually thought to be chosen largely because of their loyalty.

Jeong said one male and 12 female North Korean workers arrived in the South on Thursday.

He did not reveal the country where they were working or the route they took to avoid diplomatic problems and possibly endanger North Koreans still working in the country.

The North Korean defectors told South Korean officials they learned about the South by watching South Korean TV dramas and movies and from searching the Internet while living overseas.

South Korea’s spy agency estimates that North Korea runs about 130 restaurants in other countries — about 100 in China and the others in Russia, southeast Asia, and south Asia.