SEOUL, April 25 (Reuters) - Three North Korean youths who fled the communist state and were later arrested by Lao authorities have been freed and are in South Korean custody at its embassy in Vientiane, a human rights group said on Wednesday.

The three, two-girls and a boy aged between 12 and 17, had fled the North some time ago to China and found their way to Laos, Peter Jung of the Seoul-based group Justice for North Korea said.

"They are now in the custody of the South Korean diplomatic mission," Jung said by telephone. South Korea's foreign ministry, which typically refrains from commenting on North Korean refugees seeking asylum, declined to confirm the three were under its protection.

"We think the main priority is the security of these people," an official said. "Many countries are involved in the matter."

Rights groups have said the three could be the first North Korean refugees to get to South Korea via Laos, Yonhap news agency reported.

Most North Korean refugees cross the border into China and then seek asylum -- via a third country -- in South Korea, where they are almost always granted citizenship.

Jung also said more than 400 North Korean refugees, 314 of them women, were in an immigration detention centre in Thailand and began a hunger strike on Tuesday to protest against the delay by the South Korean government to give them permanent refuge.

"They are in deplorable conditions. Many of the women are ill," Jung said.

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