By Jun Ji-hye
Some 20 North Korean restaurants operated in foreign countries have been shut down following stronger sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), according to the National Intelligence Service (NIS), Wednesday.
During a meeting with lawmakers, NIS Director Lee Byung-ho said the number of visitors to North Korean restaurants abroad dramatically decreased following the international sanctions.
“Some 20 restaurants have suspended their business or shut down,” he said.
The UNSC imposed sanctions against the reclusive state in early March for its fourth nuclear test in January and a long-range rocket launch in February. Unilateral sanctions from major countries including the United States also followed.
The North has reportedly operated some 130 restaurants in 12 countries as a means to earn hard currency that is suspected of being used to help bankroll Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs.
The spy agency chief also said that a total of 20 North Korean restaurant workers in China originally planned to defect to South Korea, but seven changed their minds at the last minute. The 13 remaining North Koreans arrived in Seoul earlier this month after fleeing the restaurant in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province in northeast China.
“The North claimed that the NIS kidnapped the defectors, but they escaped by their own efforts with legal, valid North Korean passports,” the director said.
The NIS added that the North is believed to have already completed preparations for a fifth nuclear test when it carried out the fourth test, Jan. 6, saying that the regime can push ahead with an additional test at any time.
The agency also said the North is expected to hold the seventh Workers’ Party Congress for three to four days, referring to the announcement made Wednesday by the North’s state-run media, the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), that the congress is scheduled for May 6.