Seoul to propose holding talks with N. Korea next week: sources

(ATTN: ADDS background in 4th para)
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, April 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will propose holding inter-Korean talks
next week on a troubled joint industrial park project in the communist North,
informed sources said Monday.
The talks will be a follow-up to a meeting held last week in Kaesong, where the
North demanded negotiations on wage increases for North Korean workers there and
an overall review of contracts.
"The government will likely send its proposal this week," a source said, asking
not to be identified.
An official had earlier said Seoul was considering holding a "preliminary
meeting" with North Korea to discuss the agenda for the next round of talks, as
well as the date.
Another source said Seoul will likely propose holding the talks next Thursday.
"It depends on whether North Korea will agree to our proposal, but it (the
meeting) will likely be held after Children's Day," which falls on Tuesday, the
source said.
At last week's meeting, Pyongyang demanded Seoul set a date for the next round of
talks at the earliest date possible, according to officials here.
North Korea has said the talks will focus only on issues related to the Kaesong
industrial complex, such as its demand that South Korean firms start paying land
use fees from 2010 instead of 2014 as earlier agreed.
Seoul, however, says the two Koreas must also discuss other inter-Korean issues,
including the release of a South Korean worker detained at Kaesong.
The worker, said to be an engineer in his 40s, was detained on March 30 after
being accused of criticizing its communist regime and trying to incite a female
North Korean to defect to the South.
The North has denied access to the South Korean, who works for Hyundai Asan, the
South Korean developer and operator of the Kaesong complex.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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