South Korea's foreign minister held a meeting with diplomatic mission chiefs in Southeast Asia on Saturday and discussed ways to ensure the safety of North Korean asylum seekers passing through those countries, the foreign ministry said.

The meeting in Singapore came after public outrage over revelations that nine young North Korean defectors were arrested in Laos and then sent back to their communist homeland where they could face harsh punishment.

The foreign ministry came under fire for failing to prevent their repatriation.

During the meeting, Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and other diplomats discussed ways to establish "country-specific cooperation systems" with Southeast Asian nations, the ministry said in a statement without elaborating.

Laos and some other Southeast Asian nations have served as key transit points for North Korean defectors, who flee their homeland through China with the aim of eventually entering South Korea.

More than 25,000 North Korean defectors have arrived in South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War. (Yonhap News)