North Korean refugees reach Seoul

The two were taken for medical checks on arrival

Two North Koreans have arrived in the South Korean capital, Seoul, after entering the US Embassy in Beijing on Friday seeking asylum.

Oh Se-hyuk is expected in South Korea later on Sunday

The two men, identified as Kim Ock-sil and Kim Moon-ok, were taken for medical checks upon arrival at Seoul's Incheon airport from Singapore.

A third North Korean, Oh Se-hyuk, who entered the German Embassy in Beijing on Thursday, is due to arrive in Seoul later in the day, after travelling via Manila.

The defections come six weeks after 25 North Koreans burst into the Spanish embassy in Beijing and sought refuge, threatening suicide if they were sent home.

Dilemma for China

Asylum-seeking North Koreans create a diplomatic minefield for Beijing, which officially treats refugees from its close ally North Korea as economic migrants, whom it is obliged to deport.

But China has been unwilling to send people back to North Korea, because of the international opprobrium it would suffer.

Almost 2,000 North Koreans have reached the South in recent years, mainly via China.

China insists that the refugees travel to South Korea via a third country, usually the Philippines.

So far this year, 162 North Koreans have defected to the South, compared with a record 583 last year.