South Korea raised the issue of China’s repatriation of North Korean defectors during a meeting of a United Nations General Assembly committee concerned with the protection and promotion of human rights.

South Korea’s ambassador to the UN Hwang Joon-kook said Seoul strongly protests the recent repatriation of North Koreans in China during a session of the UN General Assembly Third Committee in New York on Wednesday, referring to the incident as a serious matter related to human rights.

The ambassador’s comments appear to have been based on assertions by a South Korean human rights group that the Chinese government had forcibly repatriated around 600 North Korean defectors in China's three northeastern provinces recently.

Hwang said the international community must not tolerate such a move and must raise its voice to protect the human rights of North Korean defectors, stressing that no more forced repatriations should take place.

The ambassadors to the UN from North Korea and China, who were in attendance at Wednesday’s session, did not mention the repatriation issue.