The government has dismissed North Korea’s claim that South Korea lured and kidnapped North Korean staff of a Pyongyang-owned restaurant in China.
 
Unification Ministry Spokesman Jeong Joon-hee on Monday dismissed the North’s accusation that the South of plotted the recent group defection of the 13 overseas North Korean workers.

With the North framing the defection as a politically-motivated plot to create a conducive election environment for the ruling party during last week's parliamentary polls, Jeong said that Seoul feels no need to respond to the North's groundless claim.

The spokesman said that Seoul is giving a stern warning to Pyongyang to halt the absurd claim, urging it to take care of the North Koreans’ human rights and livelihoods.

In a spokesperson’s statement Sunday, the North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland claimed that the South Korean government kidnapped 13 North Korean restaurant workers earlier this month. It then demanded the immediate return of the defectors to North Korea.