Ten North Korean escapees have reportedly been stuck at the Japanese Embassy in China for two years.

Japan’s Asahi Shimbun says the ten defectors are all Korean-Japanese who chose to go to North Korea in the 1960s and 70s as part of a North Korean project to have overseas Koreans repatriated.

The Korean-Japanese people escaped from North Korea and entered the Japanese Embassy in China for assistance.

All ten have stated their hopes to return to Japan but have had to remain under the protection of the Japanese Embassy due to the Chinese government’s refusal to let them leave China.

According to the Japanese newspaper, Beijing demands that the Japanese government promise not to offer shelter to North Korean escapees in the future if it approves the departure of the ten defectors.

Japanese diplomatic missions have helped some 100 North Korean defectors escape to Japan.

Since 2008, Beijing has not allowed foreign diplomatic missions in China to help North Korean escapees leave the nation.