South Korea "strongly" urged North Korea to ensure the safety of nine young North Korean defectors who were forced to return home last week from China after being caught in Laos, an official said Tuesday.

"The government strongly demands the North Korean authorities ensure the lives and safety of forcibly repatriated North Koreans," Seoul's foreign ministry spokesman Cho Tai-young told reporters.

Cho described the deportation of nine North Koreans, aged between 14 and 18, as "very regrettable."

The nine North Koreans, who are believed to all be orphans, were rounded up in Laos on May 10 for border trespassing. On May 27, they were expelled to China, from where they were deported the following day to their communist home country, where they are certain to face harsh punishment, Seoul officials said.

South Korea will raise the issue of the latest deportation at a meeting with a U.N. human rights agency in Geneva this week, Cho said.

The deportation drew international attention as it is believed to be the first case in which Laos has handed over North Korean defectors to North Korean agents.

President Park Geun-hye warned Monday that North Korea would face international criticism if the repatriated defectors face unfair punishment.

Seoul's foreign ministry and its embassy in Laos have been under fire for failing in their duty of protecting the North Koreans.

Cho said his ministry will "thoroughly handle" the issue of North Korean defectors in the future.

Laos has become one of the major transit points for North Korean defectors, who flee their homeland through China with the aim of eventually entering South Korea.

Tens of thousands of North Korean defectors are believed to be hiding in China, hoping to travel to Laos, Thailand or other Southeast Asian countries before resettling in South Korea, which is presently home to more than 25,000 North Korean defectors.

North Korean defectors face harsh punishments and even execution after being repatriated from China, which does not recognize them as asylum seekers, according to defectors in South Korea and human rights activists (Yonhap News)