Families of the 13 North Korean restaurant
\nworkers who defected as a group to South Korea from their posts in China are
\nopenly blaming North Korea\u2019s State Security Department [SSD] for the incident.
\nNorth Korean authorities have aired interviews of the families criticizing the
\nSouth Korean government on Uriminzokkiri TV, but away from the cameras, the
\nfamilies are directing their animosity at domestic authorities.<\/p>\n
In a telephone conversation with Daily NK Additional sources in Pyongyang \u201cThe defectors\u2019 relatives in Pyongyang She added that some parents have demanded News of the incident has spread widely to \u201cThe rumor mill has been spinning, urged on In particular, the assertion by the North \u201cNorth Korean residents are jokingly She further noted that upon returning to \u201cA rumor is circulating that the remaining She continued, \u201cResidents are saying that Families of the 13 North Korean restaurant workers who defected as a group to South Korea from their posts in China are openly blaming North Korea\u2019s State Security Department [SSD] for the incident. North Korean authorities have aired interviews of the families criticizing the South Korean government on Uriminzokkiri TV, but away from the cameras, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":32607,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[645],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy"],"yoast_head":"\n
\non April 29, a source from South Pyongan Province reported that the recent
\ndefection of the North Korean restaurant employees has put Pyongyang\u2019s State
\nSecurity Department on the defensive. In the past, the families of the
\ndefectors would have been implicated and punished, but this time the SSD is
\nbeing subjected to strong protests and counter-accusations by the families that
\nthe relevant SSD agents caused the incident by breaking security protocols.
\ncorroborated this news.
\nhave strongly resisted attempts to blame them,\u201d the source said, directly
\ntelling SSD personnel in the capital that their kids [the restaurant employees]
\nweren\u2019t like that when they departed for China, so the SSD is responsible for
\nthe events that transpired because the defection was caused by poor management,
\nand it\u2019s totally different from a normal case of defection.\u201d
\nthat the authorities send them to South Korea to retrieve their daughters
\nfollowed by irate comments that \u201cthe SSD cadres responsible will never admit
\nthat the incident was caused by their neglect.\u201d
\nmany other residents, who are generally more supportive of the parents\u2019
\nposition than the SSD. \u201cResidents are, on the whole, unanimous in their view
\nthat since the incident arose from the ineptitude of the local SSD officer, it
\nis completely unfair to ask the families to take responsibility,\u201d the source
\nsaid, further adding that because the North Korean authorities are concerned
\nabout provoking unrest, the incident was not covered in the domestic media
\nuntil April 28. However, despite efforts to suppress the gravity of the
\nincident, the information has continued to spread widely.
\nby listeners secretly tuning into radio broadcasts from South Korea and word of
\nmouth from the families of Pyongyang cadres,\u201d she noted.<\/span> <\/p>\n
\nKorean authorities that South Korea\u2019s National Intelligence Service kidnapped
\nthe restaurant workers is not being well received by residents.
\nasking, \u2018In what world would it be feasible to simultaneously kidnap not one or
\ntwo, but thirteen people?\u2019 and, \u2018If the conditions were good, would they have
\ndefected as a group? They must have left because they were feeling
\ndisillusioned by the actions of the authorities,\u2019\u201d reported the source.
\nPyongyang, the seven colleagues of the restaurant defectors were interrogated
\nby the SSD for many days. They have since been released, but it remains likely
\nthat they will be taken in again for questioning.
\nseven young female workers are going to have a tough time,\u201d the source
\nasserted, adding that the residents are saying that the authorities are not
\ngoing to leave them alone until they know \u201ceach and every detail\u201d about what
\nhappened in China leading up to the group defection.
\nif these seven workers can\u2019t convince the authorities that they are completely
\nfree of any wrongdoing during interrogations, even for things like watching a
\nSouth Korean drama, punishment is likely.\u201d