Koreas to hold talks on joint industrial park amid military tension

SEOUL, Feb. 1 (Yonhap) -- South and North Korea were to hold talks Monday on ways
to improve their joint industrial complex in the North, amid rising tension
triggered by days of artillery fire by the North near their western maritime
border last week.

A team of 17 South Korean officials crossed the heavily armed Demilitarized Zone
by car at 8:30 a.m. on their way to the industrial park on the outskirts of the
North Korean border town of Kaesong, officials at the Unification Ministry in
Seoul said.
The one-day talks at the Kaesong Industrial Complex, just north of the
inter-Korean border, come after North Korea conducted provocative artillery
drills along the tense western sea border with South Korea for three days last
week. The North fired hundreds of shells into waters north of the U.S.-drawn
Northern Limit Line that has served as a de facto sea border since the 1950-53
Korean War ended in a truce.
South Korea responded with warning shots on Wednesday, the first day of the
North's shooting, fueling tension that already ran high after Pyongyang
threatened an attack over contingency plans Seoul had reportedly prepared in case
of a regime collapse and political chaos in its neighbor.
This week's talks in Kaesong are the second this year focusing on ways to boost
the competitiveness of the park, which symbolizes reconciliation efforts made in
the first inter-Korean summit in 2000. Some 110 South Korean manufacturers employ
about 42,000 North Korean workers at the complex to produce labor-intensive
products.
The sides had met for three days in Kaesong last month, but failed to reach an
agreement on mutual objectives as the South refused to accept North Korea's
demand that pay raises be discussed during the meetings.
Kim Young-tak, chief South Korean delegate, told reporters Monday morning that
his delegation would press the North to sideline the issue and first discuss
border restrictions that have slowed South Korean transportation and
communications in and out of the complex.
He also said he will push the North to focus on the planned construction of a
facility to house North Korean workers, a move he said would help boost the
profitability of the factory park.
"We will persuade the North to understand that a mood favorable to discussing the
wages will be naturally created" once the issues of border restrictions and
housing are resolved, he said.
The industrial park, which began operating in 2004 and exported nearly US$10
million between 2005 and 2008, came under scrutiny last year as inter-Korean ties
fell to their lowest level in recent years.
In a reversal of its stance toward Seoul, however, Pyongyang has in recent months
proposed talks aimed at improving cross-border relations. In December, delegates
from the two sides participated in a joint survey of industrial parks in China
and Vietnam, which led to the Jan. 19-21 talks that served as a follow-up to the
trip.
Analysts say the North Korean offer of talks is part of a peace offensive aimed
at raising the standard of living for North Koreans and achieving its goal of a
"strong and prosperous nation" by 2012.
The smoothening of relations with the outside world, which would pave the way for
foreign investment and trade, is also key for the North to attain that goal, they
say.
North Korea, which drew harsher U.N. sanctions for its nuclear test last year,
also seeks to return to six-nation talks that could bring economic and political
compensation for progress in its denuclearization, but it has insisted the
sanctions first be lifted and that talks aimed at formally ending the Korean War
be launched.