The South Korean Embassy in China has expressed concern over Beijing’s recent arrest of nearly 70 asylum-seeking North Koreans.

The Embassy has requested Chinese authorities to handle the issue of the escapees in a humanitarian manner.

Seoul is also exerting diplomatic efforts to prevent some 29 North Korean asylum-seekers from being taken into the custody of Chinese police. The group dashed into a South Korean school in the Chinese capital last Friday and have sought asylum to the South.

Earlier on Tuesday, Chinese authorities arrested 65 North Korean escapees and two officials of an organization that allegedly supports North Korean asylum-seekers during a raid on a safe house outside of Beijing.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has warned that it will strictly punish members of organizations supporting North Korean escapees and will not tolerate the entrance of North Korean asylum-seekers into diplomatic missions.