South Korea’s spy service and unification ministry on Wednesday both confirmed the release of 13 former North Korean restaurant workers, who controversially arrived in Seoul in early April.

The government said the 13 defectors spent four months at a refugee center run by the National Intelligence Service (NIS), avoiding the typical adjustment program most incoming North Koreans participate in.

“As of now, they are all released to South Korean society,” an unnamed official from the NIS public relations team told NK News on Wednesday, adding the 13 had been settled at unspecified locations around the country.

Normally, defectors undergo a three-month