S. Korea to repeat 'no' to North's demands over business park

By Kim Hyun
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.
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.
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.

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.
North Korea has been holding the Hyundai Asan Corp. employee incommunicado since
March on charges of "slandering" its political system.
The detention raised the sense of insecurity among South Korean firms at the
park. More than 100 companies operate factories at the North Korean park, with
about 40,000 North Korean workers, producing clothing, kitchenware, electronic
equipment and other labor-intensive goods.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)