SEOUL, Jan. 18 (UPI) -- South Korea's Foreign Ministry is under fire Thursday for mishandling North Korea's asylum-seekers who wanted to resettle in the South.
At least nine refugees were repatriated to the communist country late last year after being caught by Chinese police at a leased house in a border town provided by South Korea's consulate in Shenyang.
They included three South Korean prisoners of war who were taken to the North during the 1950-53 Korean War and their family members.
The nine people fled the North to China last July and requested the South Korean consulate in Shenyang for protection, seeking ways to resettle in the South with their long-lost relatives.
"The government laments the fact that their return to South Korea could not be realized despite its efforts," Seoul's Foreign Ministry said in apparent response to criticism of the way it handled the issue.
