Senior diplomats from South Korea and China are scheduled to hold talks later this month to address outstanding issues between the two nations, including North Korean defectors detained in China, a diplomatic source said Thursday.

The talks come as Seoul has urged Beijing not to send back a group of North Koreans detained in China as they hope for South Korean intervention to avoid repatriation to their communist homeland.

During the talks, South Korea will “emphasize again that China should not repatriate North Korean defectors against their will but should handle the issue from a humanitarian standpoint,” the source said on condition of anonymity.

No date for the planned talks has been fixed but the two sides are finalizing a schedule.

China does not recognize North Korean refugees and sends them back to the North, where they face harsh punishments and even execution, according to defectors and activists.

The director-level talks are likely to touch on topics including how to prevent illegal fishing by Chinese fishermen in South Korean waters and preparations for formal negotiations for a free trade deal between the two nations.

Early this month, Seoul’s trade ministry said it will begin domestic procedures later this month for the start of formal negotiations with China on a bilateral free trade agreement.

Once Seoul completes its local procedures, it is possible the two countries could announce the start of formal trade talks in the first half of this year, trade officials said. 

(Yonhap News)