Thai police detain N Koreans

The authorities in Thailand say they have detained five North Korean women, who claim to be asylum seekers, for illegally entering the country.

Police said the women had been arrested in the northern province of Chiang Rai, after crossing the Mekong River from Laos.

A spokesman for the police said the women were not related to each other, and wanted to go to South Korea.

He said they would stand trial on illegal entry, and if found guilty they would normally be repatriated to the country they left from - in this case Laos.

More than a week ago, 10 North Koreans entered the Japanese embassy in the Thai capital, Bangkok, to seek asylum there - the first time North Koreans had sought refuge in an embassy in Thailand.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service