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| Ministry of Unification spokesman Jeong Joon-hee gives a press briefing at the Government Complex in Seoul, Friday, about 13 North Korean defectors from China who arrived last Thursday. / Yonhap |
By Ko Dong-hwan
South Korean presidential house Cheong Wa Dae ordered a press briefing about the 13 North Korean defectors from China who arrived last Thursday to attract conservative voters for the April 13 general elections, a local newspaper said Monday.
Ministry of Unification spokesman Jeong Joon-hee told the media at the Government Complex in Seoul Friday about the defectors. But the presidential house forced the press release, despite the ministry recommending against it, according to the Hankyoreh. The ministry was concerned the press release would jeopardize the safety of the defectors' families in the North.
"The ministry's press briefing about the defectors was ordered by Cheong Wa Dae at the last minute," the report said, quoting a government official. "The ministry first objected to the order because it contradicts the government's common way of handling North Korean defectors ― keeping them under the public radar to safeguard the safety of their family members in the North. But Cheong Wa Dae didn't agree to the objection."
The press briefing was held a day after the defectors' arrival here, with the press notified only 30 minutes before, a rare case.
Following the briefing, the Ministry of Unification and Ministry of Foreign Affairs each held press conferences Sunday. The report said it was the ministries' bid "to attract conservative voters for the elections by highlighting the effectiveness of the government's counter-measures against the North."
Officials from the ministries referred to the defection as "a positive outcome of the measures" and said they "locked out North Korean ships in the state's harbors."
The defectors ― one manager and 12 waitresses from a Pyongyang-owned restaurant in Ningbo, northeast Zhejiang province ― arrived in South Korea via a third Southeast Asian country.
