N. Korea sent letter regarding detained S. Korean worker: executive

SEOUL, July 2 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has sent a letter to a representative of
South Korean businesses operating at a joint park in the North, saying the crimes
of a detained worker are "grave," the businessman said Thursday.
The message, which Kim Hak-kwon, chairman of the Kaesong Industrial Council, said
was received on June 27, was a rare mention by Pyongyang of the South Korean
worker who has been detained incommunicado since March. Little is known about the
detained engineer of Hyundai Asan Corp. who has been identified only by his
family name Yu.
"The North in the message said Mr. Yu's crimes are 'grave,'" Kim said over the
telephone. Kim is also chief of Jaeyoung Solutec, a plastics maker that has a
factory at the joint park in the North's border town of Kaesong.
Seoul officials could not say what the detained worker did wrong. On the day of
his detention on March 30, the North sent a message to the South saying he
criticized the North's political system and tried to persuade a female North
Korean worker to defect from the country.
Kim refused to elaborate on details. But Nocut News, a local Internet news site,
quoted the North Korean letter as saying Yu "is a rude criminal and the (North
Korean) people would not forgive him."
Seoul officials said they could not confirm the letter.
North Korea held South Korea's conservative government accountable for the
current troubled situation at the industrial park, Kim said.
The North in the letter "tried to explain clearly so that there would be no
misunderstanding" with the businesses, he said.
"There was no word that it (the North) would maintain and continue to develop the
Kaesong industrial park, but my impression was that its interest was that way,"
he said.
Officials of the Koreas are holding a third round of talks in Kaesong to narrow
differences over North Korea's demands to raise wages and rent.
The joint park now hosts more than 100 South Korean firms producing clothing,
kitchenware, electronic equipment and other labor-intensive goods with about
40,000 North Korean workers. Due to a sales decrease and political tension, a fur
coat maker has withdrawn from the park last month in the first pullout from the
venture that opened in 2004. A few others are considering temporary closure of
their facilities.
hkim@yna.co.kr
(END)





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