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Agence France-Presse

Thirteen North Koreans working in a state-run restaurant outside the country have defected to South Korea, a government official in Seoul said yesterday.
The South Korean government estimates that Pyongyang rakes in around US$10 million every year from some 130 restaurants it operates in 12 countries.
Last month, while unveiling sanctions on Pyongyang over its January nuclear test, Seoul urged South Korean citizens overseas to boycott any such establishments, saying their profits fund the North’s nuclear weapons programme.
After fleeing North Korea, some defectors find themselves adrift in the South
The defectors, one male manager and a dozen women, arrived in the South on Thursday, Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee told reporters.
He declined to identify the country where the restaurant they had been working in was.
There have been defections by individual workers in the past, but this is the first time restaurant staff have defected en masse.
Jeong quoted one of the defectors as saying that everyone had been “on the same page” about escaping to South Korea.
“We cannot reveal the country and the route they took,” Jeong said. “That’s because we are concerned about a possible diplomatic clash with a third country, the protection of the group and other possible cases that might arise in the future,” he added.
We cannot reveal the country and the route they took
Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee
North Korea is known to be strict about vetting and selecting people to work in its overseas restaurants, knowing they will be exposed to information about the outside world that they are mostly protected from in the North.
“From what we know, there is some competition for being deployed to overseas restaurants. We believe ... they must be from relatively good families,” Jeong said of the defectors.

Tough United Nations sanctions imposed on North Korea after its January nuclear test significantly curtailed the isolated state’s ability to earn hard currency, making the restaurants even more important than before as an income source.
There have been reports of staff not being paid, as the restaurants were pressured into increasing remittances to Pyongyang.
“We believe so,” Jeong said, when asked if the UN sanctions had been one trigger for the staff to plot an escape to South Korea.
Ordinary North Koreans are the true audience for Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons tests
The defections come at a time of elevated military tensions on the divided Korean peninsula.
North Korea has condemned Seoul and Washington for spearheading the sanctions drive at the UN, while also lashing out at annual military war games that South Korea and the United States kicked off last month.
In recent weeks, the North’s state media has carried regular threats of pre-emptive nuclear strikes against both countries.
Jeong said the South Korean government had decided to go public with the group defection because it was such a rare case.
“Medical check-ups show that their health condition is relatively good,” he added.
Overseas labour is a large source of foreign currency for North Korea, which earns between US$200 million and US$300 million from approximately 50,000 workers per year, according to the Seoul-based Database Centre for North Korean Human Rights. Most work in China and Russia.


North Korean overseas restaurant staff defect to South

South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee speaks about North Korean workers' defection to South Korea during a briefing at the government complex in Seoul. Photo: AP

epa05249145 South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee briefs reporters on a group of 13 North Koreans working at a restaurant in a foreign country that have defected to South Korea at the ministry in Seoul, South Kora, 08 April 2016. Jeong said the North Koreans - one male manager and 12 female employees - entered South Korea the previous day. The spokesman refused to elaborate on why and from where they defected to South Korea. Overseas restaurants run by North Korea are one of main sources of hard currency for the North Korean regime. EPA/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT

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Pyongyang-owned eateries outside the country fund its nuclear weapons programme, Seoul says


North Korean overseas restaurant staff defect to South

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Pyongyang-owned eateries outside the country fund its nuclear weapons programme, Seoul says

Pyongyang-owned eateries outside the country fund its nuclear weapons programme, Seoul says