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The North Korean restaurant in Xi‘an

The South Korean government officially confirmed on June 1 that three waitresses from overseas North Korean restaurants recently arrived in South Korea, including two who fled a restaurant in China’s Shaanxi Province in mid-May.

“It is true that staff from a North Korean restaurant in a third country recently entered [South Korea],” the Ministry of Unification confirmed.

The ministry said it could not confirm specifics, including the route taken.

While Seoul did not confirm the date of entry either, sources said it may have been either May 31 or the morning of June 1.

According to sources, two of the women worked at the same restaurant and fled in mid-May, while the third worked at a different restaurant before fleeing in early 2015 and traveling recently to a third country. All are reported to have traveled over land without passports.

In early April, the South Korean government made the unusual move of holding an emergency press conference to announce details about the group defection of 12 waitresses and one manager from a North Korean restaurant in China’s Zhejiang Province.

In contrast, it confined its information on the latest defection to a mere confirmation.

Prior to the Zhejiang case, Seoul had maintained a policy of not confirming even the fact that defections had occurred in order to ensure the safety of the defectors and their family members in North Korea.

By Kim Jin-cheol, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]