Anchor: After recent assertions by a South Korean human rights group that the Chinese government had repatriated around 600 North Korean defectors, the ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs issued a denunciation. The unification ministry said Seoul stands by its position that North Korean defectors should not be repatriated against their will under any circumstance.
Kim Bum-soo has more.

Report: South Korea is denouncing the repatriation of North Korean defectors in China. 

Speaking to reporters on Friday, unification ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam said repatriation against one’s will is a violation of international norms.

[Sound bite: Unification ministry spokesperson Koo Byoung-sam (Korean-English)]
"The government's stance is that defectors staying overseas should not be repatriated against their will. Repatriation against will is a violation of an international norm."

Earlier in the week, a non-governmental organization in Seoul focused on human rights said that Beijing had forcibly repatriated around 600 North Korean defectors.

The spokesman said that while it appears that many North Koreans in China's three northeastern provinces were repatriated, it is unclear exactly how many there were and which were defectors, patients or criminals. 

Koo added that the South Korean government expressed concerns over the issue to the Chinese government.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.