Pyongyang discloses IDs of female defectors

By Park Sae-jin Posted : June 9, 2016, 10:38 Updated : June 9, 2016, 13:22

Pictures of three female defectors were posted in Uriminzokkiri's report [Screenshot captured from Uriminzokkiri]



North Korea has posted the identities of two restaurant workers and a third woman on its official propaganda website in an unusual move aimed at refuting South Korea's announcement about their defection.

The names, pictures and passport numbers of the three young women were disclosed through Pyongyang's state website, uriminzokkiri, with an article threatening to punish Seoul in retaliation.

They were identified as Jun En-sim and Ham Un-ha, who had worked at a state-run North Korean restaurant in a city in China's northwestern Shanxi province. The third woman was identified as Dam Hong-hwa with no words on her job.

The article repeated North Korea's earlier claims that they were the victims of a daylight operation by intelligence agents. Pyongyang has warned that Seoul would be retaliated unless they are not returned.

Without disclosing details, Seoul reported their arrival on June 1 that marked the second defection of its kind this year but refused to confirm news reports that they had stayed in a refugee camp in Thailand after escaping through Laos.

In early April, 13 North Koreans defected to South Korea after fleeing from their restaurant in China. Pyongyang accused Seoul of abducting them against their will, but Seoul insisted they have come of their own volition.

Seoul officials say North Korean restaurants abroad have been experiencing business difficulty due to strict UN sanctions imposed in March in retaliation for the North's nuclear and ballistic missile tests. The restaurants have been Pyongyang's important source of hard currency, and South Korean data showed North Korea has about 130 restaurants abroad.

Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
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