South Korea not considering joint park`s shutdown: vice minister

By Kim Hyun
SEOUL, May 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is not considering closing an industrial
complex in North Korea despite Pyongyang's unilateral decision to scrap wage and
land contracts, and will continue pursuing dialogue with the reclusive state, a
vice minister said Monday.
But Seoul's plan to hold official inter-Korean talks came undone for a second
time as the North gave no response to the proposal, acknowledged Vice Unification
Minister Hong Yang-ho.
"Our government is not considering a shutdown in trying to resolve the issue,"
Hong said in an interview with MBC radio when asked whether closure was an
option.
The joint industrial complex in the North's border town of Kaesong was girding
for possible setback after North Korea announced it has torn up all inter-Korean
contracts regarding the venture and will unilaterally raise wages, land fees and
taxes. It told South Korean firms who cannot accept the new terms to leave.
The announcement came after days of negotiations to set up inter-Korean talks
over the joint venture broke down due to disputes over the agenda.
More than 100 small South Korean firms operate in Kaesong, just an hour's drive
from Seoul, paying monthly wages ranging US$70 and $80 for each of their 40,000
North Korean employees.
"The government's basic position is that the Kaesong industrial complex should be
developed in a stable manner, and dialogue and cooperation with the North should
be key to resolving this issue," Hong said.
Just hours before the North Korean announcement, Seoul had proposed to hold the
second round of inter-Korean talks on Monday.
The first round took place in Kaesong on April 21 at Pyongyang's request, in the
first-ever dialogue proposal in more than a year.
But the talks lasted only 22 minutes due to the tussling over the agenda. North
Korea demanded wage hikes and contract revisions overall, but refused to discuss
Seoul's major concern -- the fate of a detained South Korean worker.
The employee of Hyundai Asan Corp., the South Korean developer of the joint park,
was arrested in Kaesong March 30 on charges of criticizing the North's political
system. North Korea has continued to deny Seoul access to the man, identified
only by his surname Yu.
Hong reiterated South Korea's position that the detained worker should not be
used as a bargaining chip by North Korea.
The Kaesong park is a major inter-Korean reconciliatory symbol and a tangible
outcome of the first inter-Korean summit in 2000 between then South Korean
President Kim Dae-jung and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. South Korean firms
have benefited from its low wages, taxes and transportation costs, and it has
been a major source of cash for North Korea -- drawing in $26 million in wages
last year.
But the joint venture has often fallen victim to souring political relations
since conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February
last year. Lee took a tougher stance on North Korea's nuclear program and ended
the unconditional flow of economic aid to the North supported by his liberal
predecessors for a decade.
North Korea has curtailed and sometimes banned South Korean traffic to the joint
venture in retaliation.
hkim@yna.co.kr
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