Myanmar authorities have released 19 North Korean refugees who were arrested early December at a Myanmar-Thai border town and sent them to neighboring Thailand, a diplomat said Thursday.
The South Korean diplomat said the move paves the way for their eventual travel to South Korea.
Earlier, state-owned media in Myanmar had said the 19 would be tried for illegal entry.
However, Myanmar immigration officers handed over the defectors _ including 15 women and a 7-year old boy _ to Thailand on Wednesday, the diplomat from the South Korean embassy said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of embassy policy.
The defectors were arrested Dec. 2 trying to cross into Thailand. They were imprisoned for nearly a month.
The now will be kept at a detention center in Thailand and will be later allowed to travel to South Korea, the diplomat said.
Officials in Myanmar, who rarely speak to the press, were not available for comment, and the Immigration Departmet in Bangkok, Thailand, said they had not heard of the transfer of refugees.
Thousands of people have fled North Korea in recent years, citing hunger and harsh political oppression. They have fled to Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries before seeking asylum in South Korea, which is home to nearly 14,000 North Korean defectors.
Myanmar severed relations with North Korea in 1983 following a bombing in Yangon by North Korean secret agents targeting former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan. He was unhurt, but 21 people were killed.
The two countries have been quietly working to normalize relations for the past few years.
