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China-Japan-Koreas
S. Korea: 'no' to Nork demands over Kaesong business park
2009-06-30
SEOUL, June 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will maintain its position that North Korea's "unreasonable" demands over a joint business park cannot be accepted, the unification minister said Monday, as the two sides are set to meet again over the troubled venture this week.
At least the translators will eat well for the duration of the talks. The negotiators, I'm sure, eat well all the time.
Seoul heads to the third round of inter-Korean talks set for Thursday in the North's border town of Kaesong amid few signs of compromise from either side. Pyongyang has demanded a hefty wage and rent raise, but refused to discuss Seoul's major concern about a detained worker.

"We will continue to pursue the stable development of the Kaesong industrial park. But we will do so with principles. We have been emphasizing that unreasonable demands cannot be accepted," Unification Minister Hyun In-taek said in a briefing for the National Assembly unification, foreign affairs and trade committee.

In the first round of talks on June 11, North Korea demanded a four-fold monthly wage increase to US$300 for its workers employed by South Korean firms at the park. It also sought to raise the rent for 50-year development rights to $500 million from the $16 million paid by South Korean developers when the joint park opened in 2004.

South Korea rejected the demands in the second round held eight days later. North Korea insisted on its initial offer, but showed some flexibility, proposing to lift a traffic curfew it imposed along the inter-Korean border in December to protest Seoul's conservative policy.

Hyun said the two Koreas share an understanding that the last remaining inter-Korean venture should remain intact despite the political stalemate. "We head to the talks with an understanding that North Korea does not intend to quit the Kaesong industrial complex," Hyun said, asked by Rep. Chung Ok-il of the ruling Grand National Party about Pyongyang's stance. "We will try to explain to North Korea sufficiently that the businesses should make profits" if the business park is to continue.
But these are totalitarian Maoists, or whatever the North Korean version of that is. Kimists, perhaps? At any rate, they aren't going to understand anything other completely draining the blood of the mixed-breed South Korean plutocrats.
Hyun's uncompromising stance on North Korea's wage demands garnered general support in the parliamentary briefing, which was held in the absence of the major opposition Democratic Party. The liberal opposition was boycotting the Assembly plenary session to protest the ruling party's push for controversial media bills.
Good timing, guys.
A rare criticism came from Gu Sang-chan of the ruling party, who rebuked the government's procrastination on its promise to build dormitories and nurseries for North Korean workers, mostly women in their 20s and 30s. He also called on Seoul to ease its own restrictions on border traffic that were imposed after North Korea's May 25 nuclear test.
Posted by:Steve White

#2  Chosun Ilbo:
The basic monthly salary of North Korean workers at the complex is US$63.4, consisting of $55.1 in wages and $8.3 in social insurance. In addition, overtime work pay amounts to between $11 to 18.3 a month, and a welfare package subsidizing lunches, snacks and transport costs is provided at a range of between $36.6 and 47.9 per month. In total, the monthly salary of a North Korean worker ranges from $110 to 130, which, the companies argue, is comparable to that earned by workers in China and Vietnam.

A survey of some 40 firms operating at the complex was carried out after the first round of talks on April 25 to discover why these firms were having difficulty accepting North Korea's demands. According to the survey, the productivity of an individual North Korean worker is just 33 percent that of a South Korean worker. In comparison, the productivity of Chinese and Vietnamese workers is 96 and 85 percent that of South Korean workers, respectively.
Posted by: ed   2009-06-30 08:42  

#1  The Kaesong workers are only paid $75/month? That's hardly enough to eat bark on after deducting $70/month for the Party.
Posted by: Glenmore   2009-06-30 07:37  

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