Unification Minister Kim Yung-ho speaks during a parliamentary inspection of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration at the National Assembly in Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap

China sent back around 600 North Korean defectors earlier this week right after the end of the Asian Games in Hangzhou, a local human rights group claimed Wednesday, despite Seoul's repeated calls against forced repatriation.

Justice For North Korea said hundreds of North Korean defectors detained in China's Jilin and Liaoning provinces were deported Monday night to their reclusive home country against their will through cities near the border with North Korea, such as Dandong and Hunchun.

China has begun sending back around 90 North Korean defectors on two buses since late August and completed the forced repatriation of around 2,600 defectors, according to the group.

Earlier in the day, a local media outlet carried a similar report about China's mass repatriation of such defectors.

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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.

"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.

"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.

The National Intelligence Service, South Korea's spy agency, said it is aware of what the civic group disclosed over the repatriation and is working to verify details.

Elizabeth Salmon, the U.N. special rapporteur for North Korea's human rights, has estimated that more than 2,000 North Korean defectors are currently detained in China. Concerns have grown over their fate, as North Korea has started to lift border closures. (Yonhap)