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| China-Japan-Koreas | |
| N. Korea OKs Human Rights Envoy's Visit | |
| 2006-06-27 | |
| SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea has approved plans by a U.S. human rights envoy to visit an industrial zone run jointly by the two Koreas, a South Korean official said Tuesday. Jay Lefkowitz, the U.S. special envoy on human rights in North Korea, is likely to make the trip next month. Lefkowitz has openly criticized alleged worker exploitation at the Kaesong complex, just north of the inter-Korean border. In a letter to the South's government, the North last week approved the proposed visit, an official at the South's Unification Ministry said. The trip will likely happen in mid-July, the official said on condition of anonymity, citing ministry policy. South Korea has strongly protested the allegations, urging Lefkowitz to visit the site and see the working conditions for himself. South Korea cherishes the Kaesong project as a symbol of inter-Korean reconciliation. About 15 South Korean companies have set up shop in the enclave, and up to 2,000 businesses could fill it by 2012. The showcase project, launched after the only summit so far between the two Koreas' leaders in 2002, combines the South's management expertise with the North's However, it has become a contentious topic between Seoul and Washington after Lefkowitz alleged North Korean workers there were being ill-treated. He cited a lack of labor rights and low wages paid through the North Korean government, not directly to the workers.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 Potemkin villages |
| Posted by: mojo 2006-06-27 10:23 |