The South Korean Embassy in Laos says it cannot confirm a report that three teenage North Korean defectors held at a Laotian detention center have been handed over to the embassy.

The embassy issued the statement Tuesday after Lee Ho-taek, an activist from an international campaign to block the forced repatriation of North Korean escapees, said that the three North Korean teenagers had been released and transferred to the South Korean Embassy.

The Japanese non-governmental organization, Life Funds for North Korean Refugees, also issued a similar statement.

The three North Koreans were arrested by Laotian police last November.