DPRK state-run media on Monday urged the South Korean government to “immediately” repatriate 12 North Korean restaurant workers that Pyongyang has claimed were abducted by ROK authorities.

In an editorial, the DPRK Today described the alleged abduction of the North Korean women as a “hideous crime,” and warned that failure to return them could impact inter-Korean relations.

South Korean local broadcaster JTBC earlier in the month claimedthe workers had been brought to the ROK against their will, in a report featuring purported interviews with the manager of the restaurant and four of the women who had worked at the