North Koreans working at the same restaurant in a foreign country have defected to South Korea, Seoul officials said Friday.People working in North Korean-operated restaurants overseas have previously defected, but this is the first time multiple workers have beat feet from the same restaurant, South Korean Unification Ministry front man Jeong Joon Hee told news hounds 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 didn't 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 News Agency that Dare Not be Named called a number of North Korean restaurants in Asia, and all were open except one located in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Danang, Vietnam. A person who answered the telephone at the hotel said the Pyongyang Restaurant had closed two weeks ago and all the Korean staff had left the country. She declined to provide more details or identify herself. It was unclear whether the restaurant was connected to the defections.