N Korea demands South to return restaurant defectors

SEOUL: North Korea on Sunday demanded the repatriation of a dozen restaurant workers who fled to South Korea, a day after blasting Seoul over a separate high-profile defection. Sunday’s statement was Pyongyang’s first reaction to Seoul’s announcement last week that the 12 restaurant staff and their manager had been released from government custody. The group had been “released into society”, the South’s unification ministry said. AFP