Seoul’s Ministry of Unification (MoU) on Monday denied any connection between the upcoming election and the recent revelation that a group of North Korean restaurant workers had defected.

Previously, the progressive South Korean paper the Hankyoreh reported the Blue House had directed the revelation and the opposition Minjoo Party raised suspicions of the “Northern wind” – the use of North Korean issues to rally conservative voters.

“Typically, defectors are investigated by the National Intelligence Service (NIS) … but the government this time revealed the facts before the investigation process,” the statement from the opposition party reads.

As the MoU repeatedly stated on