The unification ministry said Tuesday it is trying to verify a report that 15 North Korean defectors seeking to flee to South Korea were arrested by Chinese police last week.

The defectors — 13 women and two children — were arrested in the southwestern Chinese city of Kunming on Aug. 21 in an ambush as they were preparing to board a ship to cross into a Southeast Asian country, U.S.-based media outlet Radio Free Asia reported Tuesday, citing a local civic group advocating North Korean human rights.

They were later transferred to the northeastern province of Jilin near the border with North Korea, RFA said, in a possible sign that China may send them back to North Korea against their will.

“We are communicating with the civic group and currently verifying the facts,” a ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

Last month, President Yoon Suk Yeol said that South Korea will “spare no diplomatic effort” to ensure North Korean defectors in a foreign country are not repatriated to North Kor
ea against their will.

China does not recognize North Korean defectors as refugees and regularly repatriates those who are caught trying to defect to the North, where they can face harsh punishment.

Source: Yonhap News Agency