I don’t think these North Korean defectors stand much of a chance of getting the Chinese authorities to release them to go to South Korea:

A group of 10 North Korean defectors detained in China are hoping for South Korean intervention to avoid repatriation to their communist homeland, South Korea’s human rights watchdog said Monday.

The defectors were arrested by Chinese police at a bus terminal in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang on Wednesday, according to the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.  [Yonhap News]