S. Korea’s military intelligence agency allegedly orchestrated defection of NK waitresses

 South Korea’s military intelligence organization orchestrated the defection of North Korean waitresses from a restaurant in China in 2016, a local news agency has reported, disputing the restaurant manager’s claim their defection to South Korea was led by the country’s top spy agency.

According to Yonhap News Agency on Tuesday, a source familiar with the issue said the defection was initially led by the Defense Intelligence Command, whose agents convinced the manager to leave with the 12 waitresses from Ryukyung Restaurant in Ningbo, China, and head to Shanghai to board a flight abroad.

The National Intelligence Service was involved in the late stages of the process, helping manager Heo Gang-il and his staff travel to Kuala Lumpur, get to the South Korean Embassy there and eventually enter South Korea, the source said.

“As far as I know, the defection case was initially led by the Defense Intelligence Command,” the source told the Yonhap News Agency. “The National Intelligence Agency was allegedly involved in the process of leaving Shanghai, moving to a third country and entering South Korea.”

Anti-North Korea activists protest against the idea of repatriating North Korean waitreeses. Yonhap

The Ministry of National Defense declined to comment on the issue, referring the matter to the Ministry of Unification. “While the Defense Intelligence Command is a military agency, defection cases are managed by the Unification Ministry,” Defense Ministry spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo said in a press briefing. 

The Unification Ministry also declined to comment on which organizations may have orchestrated the defection. Spokesperson Baik Tae-hyun told The Korea Herald that “there is nothing to confirm further” on the defection case.

If the Defense Intelligence Command is proven to have been the leading agency in the 12 women’s defection, it would contradict Ho’s claim that the defection was orchestrated by the NIS.

In an interview with Yonhap News Agency on Sunday, Ho claimed he and his waitresses were “tricked” into defecting to South Korea by the NIS, which, he said, made a commitment to allowing them to operate a restaurant in Southeast Asia.

“The NIS told me that if I can bring the waitress to South Korea, we could run a restaurant in Southeast Asia.” Ho said. “When I was hesitant, they threatened to expose my identity to the North Korean Embassy.”