A human rights group says 12 North Korean refugees have sought asylum in the South Korean embassy in Laos.

The Brussels-based Human Rights Without Frontiers International says the North Koreans, who travelled through China into Laos, entered the embassy on Thursday with the help of human rights activists working in Vientiane.

Reuters newsagency says South Korea's foreign ministry declined to confirm the case.

It says it usually declines comment on North Korean refugees, citing their safety and the sensitivity of the diplomacy involved in processing asylum seekers from the North.

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