Seoul calls for 'unconditional' talks with N. Korea over Kaesong

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, May 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea urged North Korea on Monday to
unconditionally return to the dialogue table to discuss the fate of a troubled
joint industrial park in the North's border town of Kaesong.

The call came after the communist nation rejected Seoul's two previous proposals
for a follow-up meeting to talks held on April 21, at which Pyongyang demanded
wage hikes and payment of land use fees.
The North has since declared void all business contracts and agreements between
the two Koreas regarding the Kaesong complex. It also said it will unilaterally
raise taxes and wages and begin collecting land fees.
An official at Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said such a move was
unacceptable.
"Notifying the other side of a unilateral decision and telling them to either
accept it or leave the country is simply unacceptable," the official told
reporters, referring to North Korea's announcement last week that South Korean
businesses at Kaesong could leave if they were not happy with the new terms.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Seoul was willing to
discuss the issues with North Korea, but noted the North's demands for a wage
increase and land use fees will have to be reasonable.
"North Korea has yet to suggest any specific numbers, so we still have to discuss
it with our firms after we see their actual demands, but the firms will only
agree to remain in Kaesong as long as they believe they can still make a profit
by operating there," he said.
"But despite all that, we are willing to discuss the issue with the North Korean
side and resolve it through dialogue," the official added.
He said, however, the North must be willing to openly discuss all related agenda
items, including a South Korean worker detained at the complex, if they are
sincere in trying to save the troubled business project.
Seoul had initially proposed a meeting between the two Koreas last week, but
Pyongyang rejected the proposal, claiming Seoul was trying to add irrelevant
issues to the agenda such as the South Korean worker. Seoul again proposed to
meet Monday but drew no response from Pyongyang.
The official said the safety of South Korean employees at Kaesong was the most
important issue and that it was "inseparable" from other issues regarding the
joint economic project.
"We could consider their demands if North Korea agrees to first sit with us and
discuss all the related issues, but we cannot accept their position that the
detained worker cannot even be on the agenda," he said.
The worker, an employee of Hyundai Asan, the South Korean developer of the joint
industrial complex, has been accused of criticizing the North's political system
and trying to incite a female North Korean employee to defect.
North Korea is denying access to the man, identified only by his surname Yu, by
South Korean authorities and his family.
"It is hard to understand why they would stress cooperation between the two
Koreas, yet not allow us or even his own family to see Yu," the Cheong Wa Dae
official said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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