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By Rachel Lee
North Korea is repeating its demand that South Korea repatriate 13 North Koreans who defected to the South from China in April last year.
Uriminzokkiri, a state-run media outlet, has released a video clip of a mother, who has been missing her daughter, one of the waitresses who defected to Seoul from a chain of eateries operated by Pyongyang.
The mother said in the video that it has been a year since her daughter was "taken" to the south.
"The past one year felt like 10, 100 years to your father and mother, who are missing you so much," she said.
The mother also said she was determined to stay strong until her daughter comes back home.
Last month, Pyongyang revealed a note written by the deceased father of one waitress in a video clip.
In the note, the father said his physical condition worsened after the "enemies" dragged his daughter away.
He also said he would rest in peace only when his daughter comes back home and pours a glass of alcohol on his grave.
The two videos were posted on YouTube.
In January, North Korea sent a letter to United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to request help in repatriating the waitresses, claiming they were abducted by the South.
Jang Cheol-un, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies, said Pyongyang could demand that Seoul sends the waitresses back to the North as the first step in reviving inter-Korean relations.
"North Korea may be more aggressive on the repatriation issue," Jang added.
Last week, three political parties here vowed to push for a reunion of families who were separated following the Korean War (1950-53), on Liberation Day, Aug. 15.
But a North Korean official told AFP, May 7, that Seoul should repatriate some North Korean citizens "being detained by force" in the South before talking about family reunions.
This is not the first time that the North has set prerequisites for an event that the South has proposed.
Following President Moon Jae-in's inauguration, May 10, the Ministry of Unification allowed 15 aid organizations and religious groups to contact their counterparts in the North for humanitarian aid.
The Korean Sharing Movement was supposed to visit North Korea last week to deliver medical supplies, but Pyongyang refused to allow it entry, taking issue with the United Nations' sanctions that South Korea is also enforcing.
