PYONGYANG, June 10 (Xinhua) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has made the repatriation of 12 young women who allegedly fled to South Korea the precondition for family reunions between the North and South.
The young women allegedly fled to South Korea last year from an overseas restaurant they were working in.
Another DPRK woman named Kim Ryon Hui who Pyongyang said was lured to the South six years ago must also be returned, the Korean Central News Agency cited a spokesman for the Central Committee of the DPRK Red Cross Society as saying in a Saturday report.
The South Korean authorities are intentionally turning away from the matter of their repatriation, despite the "appeal and demand by the people from all walks of life," said the spokesman.
Seoul is pushing for a reunion of separated families on Aug. 15, according to the spokesman.
The spokesman also slammed Seoul for criticizing Pyongyang's human rights record on the one hand and abducting DPRK citizens on the other.
"They should pay attention to the strong demand of the families of those abductees and settle the issue of their repatriation at an early date before anything else," he added.
