A group of 13 North Koreans working at a restaurant in a foreign country defected en masse to South Korea this week, Seoul's unification ministry said Friday, as the U.N. Security Council has slapped tougher sanctions on the North.

The defectors -- one male manager and 12 female employees at a restaurant in an unidentified nation -- arrived in South Korea on Thursday, the ministry handling inter-Korean affairs said.

Overseas restaurants operated by North Korea are known to be facing difficulties in doing business after the U.N. Security Council's (UNSC) sanctions on Pyongyang for its January nuclear test and long-range rocket launch in February went into effect. The drop in customers has been compounded by Seoul asking its nationals to not use North Korean restaurants in China and other nations.

Such restaurants have served as one of the main sources of hard currency for North Korea, which is suspected of bankrolling the North's nuclear and missile programs.

The government declined to reveal the route the defectors took or detailed personal information about them.

"As the international community has slapped sanctions on the North, North Korean restaurants in foreign countries are known to be feeling the pinch," Jeong Joon-hee, a ministry spokesman, told a press briefing. "North Koreans in overseas restaurants are believed to be under heavy pressure to send money to their country."

South Korea estimates that North Korea is running approximately 130 restaurants in some 12 countries including China, Vietnam and Cambodia, earning US$10 million annually, according to government sources.

North Koreans in overseas restaurants are among some 50,000 workers sent abroad by the regime to earn much-needed dollars to help it sidestep the string of past U.N. sanctions.

The North's export of workers has received a growing spotlight due to the need to address the North's human rights abuses and its defiant pursuit of missile and nuclear weapons capabilities.

The spokesman said that the latest defection indicates that the tougher U.N. sanctions have begun to generate impacts on curbing the North.

The ministry said that it marked the first time that an entire group of North Koreans at the same restaurant has opted to come to South Korea at once.

"The government has accepted their request to come to South Korea on humanitarian grounds," Jeong said.

The spokesman said that the North Koreans recently decided to defect to Seoul because they realized the reality of South Korea by watching South Korean TV dramas and movies and were disillusioned with the North's ideological campaigns.

It is also unusual for South Korea to publicly confirm North Koreans' defections, as Seoul usually keeps a low-key stance about the issue.

"The government has decided to unveil the case as it is rare that a group of North Koreans has defected to South Korea under the U.N. sanctions regime," Jeong said.

The ministry said that the government will conduct an evaluation of the defectors to find out the exact motivations for their defection and other details. (Yonhap)

Korean Language

[속보] 북한 해외식당 종원원 13 명 탈출해 국내 입국

북한 해외식당에서 근무하는 종업원 13명이 집단 탈출해 7일 국내 입국했다.

이들은 외화벌이 일꾼인 북한 해외식당 종업원은 북한 체제에 회의를 느껴 탈북을 결심했다고 통일부는 밝혔다.

정준희 통일부 대변인은 8일 정부서울청사에게 열린 기자회견에서 '북한이 해외식당에서 근무 중이던 지배인과 종업원 13명이 집단 귀순했다'며 '이들은 남자 지배인 1명과 여자 종업원 12명으로, 4월 7일 서울에 도착했다'고 밝혔다.

정 대변인은 '그동안 북한 해외식당 종업원 한두 명이 개별적으로 탈북한 사례는 있지만, 같은 식당에서 일하는 종업원들이 한꺼번에 탈북해 입국한 것은 이번이 처음'이라며 '정부는 이들의 의사를 존중해 인도적인 차원에서 받아들이게 됐다'고 설명했다.

그는 '병원 검진 결과 건강은 비교적 양호한 상태'라며 '이들 종업원은 해외에서 생활하며 한국 TV, 드라마, 영화, 인터넷 등을 통해 한국의 실상과 북한 체제선전의 허구성을 알게 됐으며, 최근 집단 탈북을 결심했다'고 말했다.

정부의 한 소식통은 '북한 체제에 대한 회의와 남한 사회에 대한 동경이 탈북 배경'이라고 설명했다.

북한 해외식당은 유엔의 대북제재 결의와 우리 정부의 독자 대북제재 여파로 한국인 손님의 발길이 끊겨 영업에 어려움을 겪고 있는 것으로 전해졌다. (연합)