North Korea's media have repeated their calls for South Korea to repatriate its restaurant workers who defected to the South in 2016, warning that the issue could hinder the planned reunions of families separated during the Korean War. 

The North's propaganda Web site Uriminzokkiri said on Friday that if the issue isn't resolved as quickly as possible, it could serve as an obstacle not just to the planned family reunions but also to overall inter-Korean relations. 

Twelve North Korean female workers at a restaurant in the eastern Chinese city of Ningbo and their manager came to the South in April 2016. The group defection has been causing controversy amid claims that some of them were lured into coming to the South.

The Web site claimed that the North Koreans were abducted by the Park Geun-hye government and returning them would be a "touchstone" or a test in which Seoul could act on its commitment to implement the April inter-Korean summit agreement. 

Meari, another North Korean propaganda Web site, also claimed that the North Korean workers were "kidnapped," saying that a failure to resolve the issue could hamper inter-Korean relations, including the planned family reunion event.

Last month, the two Koreas agreed to hold family reunions at the North's Mount Geumgang from August 20th to 26th.

[Photo : KBS News]