It appears that China may actually be using some of its leverage on North Korea to get the South Korean hostages released from North Korea:

Speculation is running high about the reason North Korea suddenly decided to discuss the release of a South Korean detained there incommunicado for 135 days with  his employer, Hyundai Group chairwoman Hyun Jung-eun, coming as it does hard on the heels of former U.S. president Bill Clinton’s visit to the North.

Sources familiar with North Korean affairs and defectors from the Stalinist country say the developments owe much to Pyongyang’s staunch ally China, which is implementing unprecedentedly tough sanctions against the North.

Beijing has recently begun monitoring and regulating exports to the North, especially along the border. One businessman involved in trade between China and North Korea said, “Chinese authorities have banned shipments of all metals and chemicals to North Korea that could be diverted for military use including missiles and nuclear weapons production, and issued a stern warning saying they will severely punish Chinese companies that violate those restrictions.” He added he had “never seen” China pressure North Korea to this degree.  [Chosun Ilbo]

Here is something else interesting from this report:

Chinese villages in the Yianji region along the border with North Korea have been informed by the provincial government that they should help North Koreans escaping food shortages and that the Chinese government will cover the expenses, according to accounts by ethnic Koreans in China. They say a crackdown on North Korean refugees, which reached fever pitch with the Beijing Olympics last year, has almost stopped, and police are not arresting North Koreans unless they are involved in major crimes.

This doesn’t make sense to me considering recent reports say China has launched a crackdown on the underground railroad helping the North Korean refugees.