like this: "when they defected they were told by North Korea that their families would be executed if they didn't return to north korea." If you were told this wouldn't you protect your families in this way? A similar thing is happening to suicide bombers in Europe by ISIS. The suicide bombers are told. "If you don't suicide bomb for us we will kill every member of your family in Europe." Same thing. Same kind of result. It's Mafia or drug cartel type of behavior by both.
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N. Korean women: 'Defectors' tricked
Tearful North Korean waitresses: Our 'defector' colleagues were tricked
Story highlights
- South Korea announced 12 North Korean women and one man defected from a state-owned restaurant in China last week
- North Korea says it amounts to a "group abduction"
- CNN gains exclusive access to seven waitresses from the same restaurant who say their colleagues were tricked into leaving
Pyongyang (CNN)The
door opens and seven women walk quietly into the ornate lobby of the
Koryo Hotel in Pyongyang. Their faces are expressionless. Most wear
little or no makeup, black jackets, and patriotic red lapel pins.
The
women, all in their 20s, represent some of the most trusted citizens in
the North Korean capital. They come from good families and were chosen
for the coveted assignment of working abroad to earn money for their
government.
Until
earlier this month, they were waitresses at a state-owned and operated
restaurant in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, in southern China. Now,
that restaurant is closed. And these women's lives have become
extraordinarily complicated.
"We
would never leave our parents, country, and leader Kim Jong Un. None of
us would ever do that," said waitress Han Yun Hui, sobbing alongside her
colleagues.
Defection or abduction?
Last week, South Korea announced 12 North Korean women and one man defected
after "feeling pressure from North Korean authorities" to send foreign
currency back to their homeland, according to a South Korean government
spokesman.
Senior North Korean officer defects to South 01:49
"The
workers said that they learned about the reality in South Korea through
South Korean TV, soap operas, movies and (the) internet," said South
Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee at the time.
A
spokesman for the North Korean Red Cross quickly denounced the apparent
defections as a "group abduction" of North Korean employees "in broad
daylight," according to KCNA -- the official mouthpiece of Supreme
Leader Kim Jong Un's government.
Waitresses: Restaurant manager lied
The
seven waitresses, presented exclusively to a CNN team in Pyongyang on
Monday, are workers from the same Ningbo restaurant, who have since
returned to North Korea. This is the first time they have spoken
publicly. They claim the restaurant manager tricked the other 12
waitresses into leaving, by lying about their final destination.
"In
mid-March our restaurant manager gathered us together and told us that
our restaurant would be moved to somewhere in Southeast Asia," said head
waitress Choe Hye Yong.
See North Korea's floating restaurant 02:27
Choe
says by the time the manager revealed, only to her, that they would
actually be defecting to South Korea, she only had time to "warn" a
handful of the waitresses.
"The car was already waiting for us at that time," Choe said as she broke down in tears.
The
waitresses in Pyongyang claim their manager, and a South Korean
businessman, coordinated the trip under the direction of government
authorities in Seoul.
"I think
about our colleagues being deceived and dragged to South Korea and
facing extreme hardship there," said a sobbing Han Yun Hui. "It tears
our hearts."
In response, the South
Korean Unification Ministry issued a statement to CNN: "13 defectors
voluntarily decided to leave and pushed ahead with the escape without
any help from the outside. Following their voluntary request to defect,
our government accepted them from a humanitarian point of view."
China: North Koreans left legally
If
true, a mass defection would be a humiliating blow to the Pyongyang
leadership. Especially because it was apparently allowed by China, North
Korea's most powerful ally and trading partner. In the past, China has
sent defectors back to North Korea. But last week, Ministry of Foreign
Affairs spokesman Lu Kang made the unusual move of commenting publicly
about the case.
"After
an investigation, 13 [North Korean] citizens were found exiting the
Chinese border with valid passports on the early morning of April 6. It
is worth noting that these people all had valid identity documents with
them and exited the Chinese border in accordance with law," he said in an April 11 press conference.
Many
analysts believe China's actions could be a sign of increased tension
between Pyongyang and Beijing. Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un's government
faces growing isolation and heightened sanctions over its nuclear and
missile programs. Ongoing allegations of widespread human rights abuse
made by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights continue to
infuriate North Korean leadership.
Pyongyang
has responded to mounting global pressure with a series of provocative
shows of force. In January, Kim ordered an H-bomb test just days before
his birthday. One month later, he ordered a satellite launch using a long-range rocket. And last week, an apparent attempted mid-range missile launch on the nation's most important holiday failed.
Observers
believe Kim is trying to project strength, both domestically and
internationally, ahead of the crucial Worker's Party Congress next
month, when the young leader is expected to consolidate his power. South
Korean government intelligence indicates a fifth North Korean nuclear test could be in the works ahead of that major political gathering.
Source of foreign income
North Korea threatens war with U.S. in propaganda film 01:28
The
North Korean government is believed to subsidize its military and
scientific activities by sending tens of thousands of citizens to work
abroad, bringing in an estimated $1.2 billion to $2.3 billion annually,
according to a U.N. report last fall.
State-owned
restaurants are one way the cash-strapped regime brings in much-needed
foreign currency. But the restaurants, along with other North Korean
enterprises, are believed to be struggling under the heightened sanctions.
When
asked if she had a message for her friends and colleagues who are now
in South Korea, head waitress Choe Hye Yong made an emotional plea.
"Comrade
Kim Jong Un is yearning for all of you to return. We are awaiting your
return, unable to sleep or eat. Please hold on a bit longer, gain
victory, and come back to our country," she said.
Still
wiping away tears, the waitresses walk back through the hotel lobby to
the door they came from. Their lives are forever changed. They now face
the heavy burden of explaining why their friends left home and didn't
come back.
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