A cartoon soldier is depicted on part of a warning sign on barbed wire on the Chinese side of the border between Russia, China and North Korea near the town of Hunchun, China, November 24, 2017.
Any forced repatriation of North Koreans goes against international norms and South Korea viewed it as regrettable, Koo Byoung-sam, a spokesman for South Korea's Unification Ministry, told a media briefing.
"It appears to be true that a large number of North Koreans in China's three northeast provinces have been repatriated to the North," Koo said.
South Korea had been unable to determine the number of people involved and whether there were defectors among them.
China has never recognised fleeing North Koreans as defectors and instead calls them "economic migrants".
Persons:
Damir Sagolj, Koo Byoung, Koo, Tae Yong, Kim Hyuk, Kim Cheol, Jack Kim, Hyonhee Shin, Eduardo Baptista, Ed Davies, Robert Birsel
Organizations:
REUTERS, Rights, Koreans, South Korea's Unification Ministry, Former North, Korean, Rights Watch, The North, Thomson
Locations:
Russia, China, North Korea, Hunchun, Rights SEOUL, South Korea, North, Korea, China's, Former North Korean, Korea's, Beijing, North Koreans, Koreans, The, The North Koreans, Korean, Jilin province