ID :
57333
Fri, 04/24/2009 - 17:52
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/57333
The shortlink copeid
N. Korea`s detention of S. Korean worker tied to future of joint venture: minister
SEOUL, April 24 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's detention of a South Korean citizen in
a joint park is a "fundamental" issue that has to do with the viability of doing
business in the North, Seoul's Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said Friday.
In the first inter-Korean government talks in more than a year this week, North
Korea presented a document in which it sought to raise wages and start charging
land fees in the Kaesong industrial complex.
Pyongyang said it will reconsider the "preferential treatment" it has granted to
South Korean companies so far, such as low wages for North Korean labor and the
guaranteed free use of land until 2014. North Korea demanded the two countries
begin negotiations to revise the contracts.
South Korea wanted to win the release of an employee of Hyundai Asan Corp., who
was detained by the North on March 30 for allegedly criticizing its political
system, but North Korea rejected even discussing the issue at the talks.
"Our citizen working in the Kaesong industrial complex is unfairly being
investigated for the 26th day, and this is a fundamental issue of the Kaesong
industrial complex," Hyun said in a meeting with heads of firms operating in
Kaesong.
The detention "is a serious issue that can have a very direct influence on the
stable development of the Kaesong complex," he said.
On North Korea's demand for more payment, Hyun said it will directly affect South
Korean firms operating there and that Seoul will first gauge their opinion before
responding to Pyongyang.
The Kaesong venture, just an hour's drive from Seoul, opened in late 2004 to
combine South Korean capital and technology with North Korean labor. South Korean
firms pay their 39,000 North Korean employees between US$70-$80 on average a
month, less than half of what they would pay Chinese workers. The wages, directly
wired to the North Korean government's bank accounts, amounted to $26 million
last year, according to ministry data.
In Tuesday's talks, North Korea said it is forced to reconsider the joint venture
as the Seoul government drives inter-Korean relations to the "brink of a war"
with its pro-U.S., "confrontational" policy.
The Kaesong park was launched as an outcome of the first inter-Korean summit in
2000, in which then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader
Kim Jong-il agreed to reduce military tension and boost reconciliatory projects.
The Kaesong venture has often fallen victim to political tension as inter-Korean
relations considerably chilled over the past year. North Korea curtailed traffic
to the Kaesong park in December to protest President Lee Myung-bak's conservative
policy and blocked traffic three times in March in retaliation against South
Korea's military exercises with the United States.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
a joint park is a "fundamental" issue that has to do with the viability of doing
business in the North, Seoul's Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said Friday.
In the first inter-Korean government talks in more than a year this week, North
Korea presented a document in which it sought to raise wages and start charging
land fees in the Kaesong industrial complex.
Pyongyang said it will reconsider the "preferential treatment" it has granted to
South Korean companies so far, such as low wages for North Korean labor and the
guaranteed free use of land until 2014. North Korea demanded the two countries
begin negotiations to revise the contracts.
South Korea wanted to win the release of an employee of Hyundai Asan Corp., who
was detained by the North on March 30 for allegedly criticizing its political
system, but North Korea rejected even discussing the issue at the talks.
"Our citizen working in the Kaesong industrial complex is unfairly being
investigated for the 26th day, and this is a fundamental issue of the Kaesong
industrial complex," Hyun said in a meeting with heads of firms operating in
Kaesong.
The detention "is a serious issue that can have a very direct influence on the
stable development of the Kaesong complex," he said.
On North Korea's demand for more payment, Hyun said it will directly affect South
Korean firms operating there and that Seoul will first gauge their opinion before
responding to Pyongyang.
The Kaesong venture, just an hour's drive from Seoul, opened in late 2004 to
combine South Korean capital and technology with North Korean labor. South Korean
firms pay their 39,000 North Korean employees between US$70-$80 on average a
month, less than half of what they would pay Chinese workers. The wages, directly
wired to the North Korean government's bank accounts, amounted to $26 million
last year, according to ministry data.
In Tuesday's talks, North Korea said it is forced to reconsider the joint venture
as the Seoul government drives inter-Korean relations to the "brink of a war"
with its pro-U.S., "confrontational" policy.
The Kaesong park was launched as an outcome of the first inter-Korean summit in
2000, in which then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader
Kim Jong-il agreed to reduce military tension and boost reconciliatory projects.
The Kaesong venture has often fallen victim to political tension as inter-Korean
relations considerably chilled over the past year. North Korea curtailed traffic
to the Kaesong park in December to protest President Lee Myung-bak's conservative
policy and blocked traffic three times in March in retaliation against South
Korea's military exercises with the United States.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
