N. Korea Wants Talks on Gaeseong Site
By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Pyongyang has expressed interest in having working-level talks with Seoul on issues regarding the inter-Korean industrial complex at Gaeseong, according to a source well versed on North Korea, Sunday.
The Ministry of Unification, meanwhile, said that it was willing to have talks if the North makes an official request.
``We have yet to receive any proposal from Pyongyang to discuss pending issues regarding the joint Gaeseong Industrial Complex in the North,'' a ministry official said, asking to remain anonymous.
The source said North Korean officials expressed their intention last month to hold talks with their South Korean counterparts at the earliest possible date to discuss a pay raise, dormitory construction and other issues regarding the industrial zone.
In December South and North Korea conducted a joint inspection of industrial parks in China and Vietnam to benchmark them.
The two sides had three rounds of talks over the same issues in June and July last year but failed to reach an agreement as the North asked for a sharp increase of salaries and rent.
It demanded that the monthly salary of North Korean workers be increased to $300 from the current $70-80, and called for $500 million in rent for the 50-year usage of the Gaeseong complex.
Last November, North Korea expressed its interest in having inter-Korean talks over the resumption of suspended tour projects when Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun visited the North.
The South has banned its citizens from traveling to Mt. Geumgang and Gaeseong since last July after a South Korean female tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier.