It appears nine North Korean escapees deported from Laos to China have already been sent back or will soon be returned to North Korea.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry says it's trying to confirm through diplomatic channels whether the defectors in their teens and early 20s are in China or have been repatriated to Pyongyang.

North Korea sent officials to Laos and had the defectors transported to Kunming, China on Monday.

The North Korean Embassy in Laos is believed to have issued various documents necessary for the defectors to swiftly pass through China.

The nine were secretly led into Laos from Kunming by a South Korean couple but were arrested by local police on May tenth. They were detained for 18 days before being abruptly deported from Laos on Monday.

The ministry says the South Korean Embassy in Laos strongly requested that the Vientiane police hand over custody of the escapees, but the Laotian government broke from customary practice and banished the North Koreans.