Asia-Pacific

S Korea, DPRK make contrary claims on wage issues

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-01-22 20:37

SEOUL: South Korea remains opposed to including wage issues at the industrial complex in agenda at the next working-level meeting with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the Seoul government said Friday, in a refutation of the DPRK's claim that wage issues will be discussed.

In the recent working-level meeting held at the joint industrial park in the border town of Keasong between South Korea and DPRK to discuss improving operations there, wage issues became a thorny subject at the last minute that dragged the discussions round in circles, Kim Young-tak, the head of the South Korean delegation, told a press briefing.

Toward the end of the discussions held over the course of the two days, the DPRK officials insisted wage issues be included in agenda for the next round of meeting, while the South Korean delegation refused to do so, Kim said.

"(I told the DPRK officials) the next meeting on Feb. 1 should be devoted to issues that are easier to be approached by the two sides, such as transportation, communication and customs system at the joint park along with accommodations for workers there," he told reporters.

"The report by the DPRK's media (that the two sides agreed to discuss wage issues) is not true," he added.

The remarks come after the two sides held the first bilateral meeting this year to evaluate their joint industrial survey conducted in China and Vietnam last December and discuss improving operations at their industrial complex, which Seoul's Ministry of Unification said was held in a "serious and businesslike" mood.

But the unbridged gap between the two sides on the wage issue came under spotlight after Seoul announced Pyongyang accepted its proposal to hold another similar meeting on Feb. 1 to discuss issues regarding transportation, communication and customs system, which Pyongyang contradicted by saying the meeting is set to be held on the condition the two sides discuss the wage issues.

Seoul's Unification Ministry was quick to deny Pyongyang's claim, reiterating its position that the two sides have not agreed to discuss salary issues at the next meeting.

The issue of possible wage hikes for the DPRK workers has been a touchy subject as the main attraction of running business there for South Korean companies is cheap labor provided by the DPRK workers, whose income in turn has been a rare source of hard cash for the country.

The Kaesong industrial park, which is under the joint management of South Korea and DPRK, has been one of the key symbols of economic cooperation between the two countries, though worsening ties between the two have occasionally put operations there in danger.

Currently, some 110 South Korean companies are based in the complex, employing about 42,000 workers from the DPRK mostly producing labor-intensive goods.