A Japanese daily says North Korean authorities have ordered the children of its overseas residents to return home.

The Sankei Shimbun quoted a North Korean source in China as saying that the regime ordered the children of the officials at its overseas missions and trading firms to come back to North Korea by the end of September. The report added that one child per family is still allowed to stay overseas.

The daily assessed that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is trying to close off the possibility of potential high-class dissidents being bred abroad. 

The number of children subject to the recent order is estimated to be over three-thousand.

A South Korean intelligence official said the government is verifying the report and analyzing the motive behind the North's measure. The official noted it's possible that the communist state issued the order to hold family members hostage against those who seek asylum overseas.