A group of 12 North Korean escapees barged into the South Korean embassy in Laos Thursday.

Ambassador Park Jae-hyun says the group - eleven women and one man - entered the embassy around eleven a.m.

Park says the eleven are under embassy protection and are in good health. Once they're identified, he added, Laotian officials will be consulted on their handling. The envoy pledged to respect the wishes of the escapees as much as possible.

In December, two North Koreans entered the South Korean embassy in Sweden requesting passage to a third country. They eventually came to Seoul.