By Yi Whan-woo
South Korea has reduced its free supply of water to Gaesong Industrial Complex (GIC) since December, according to the government, Sunday.
The Ministry of Unification said the amount of water provided to the inter-Korean industrial park in North Korea’s border city of Gaesong has dropped to 5,000 tons a day, down from 7,000 tons.
It added that Seoul has reduced its free water supply to Gaesong for civic purposes by 5,000 tons a day to 10,000 tons a day since December.
This supply of water comes through a water purification and sewage treatment facility near a reservoir at the GIC, the unification ministry said.
The Gaeseong Industrial District Foundation in Seoul has decided to reduce the supply to cope with a drought that hit North Korea last year, according to the government.
It said the foundation is the de-facto management body of the GIC in coordination with the unification ministry.
“North Korea suffered a severe drought in 2014 and the amount of water stored in the reservoir at the GIC has been drying up,” unification ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol said. The reservoir is the only source of water at the GIC and nearby region.
“It was inevitable to cut back the water supply and Pyongyang fully understands what led us to make such a decision.
“In case of Gaseong, we’ve been providing water for its 300,000 citizens since 2007 because North Korea lacks civic infrastructure and asked us for support.”
The news comes amid recent disputes between Seoul and Pyongyang over the minimum wage at the GIC, fueling speculation that such issues could worsen frayed inter-Korean ties.
On Friday, the unification ministry protested against Pyongyang’s unilateral decision in February to raise the minimum wage for its workers at the GIC from $70.35 to $74 starting this month.
Back then, the impoverished regime also said it would collect 15 percent of the basic wage plus overtime payment as “social security.” The South Korean firms have been paying 15 percent of the basic wage alone.
North Korea is anticipated to earn $450,000 in additional revenue from the Gaesong with its measures, according to the unification ministry.
Some 53,000 North Korean workers are employed by 124 South Korean companies, mostly small and medium-sized enterprises at the GIC that began operations in 2004 as part of inter-Korean reconciliatory efforts.
On Thursday, North Korea claimed the wage hike decision is a legitimate measure under its sovereignty.