'We are continuing to verify the facts,' he said, adding the ministry expressed its position on several occasions via diplomatic channels that China should not forcibly repatriate defectors.
'We are keeping close tabs on the issue,' Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho said during a parliamentary audit of the ministry in charge of inter-Korean affairs. If the group's claim proves true, it would mark China's first large-scale repatriation of North Korean refugees since Pyongyang recently opened its borders after three years and seven months of COVID-19 lockdowns.
