By Kim Hyo-jin
A U.S.-based human rights group has criticized North Korea for abusing worker’s rights at the inter-Korean Gaeseong Industrial Complex (GIC) in the North.
“The GIC labor regulations stipulates that South Korean firms should pay North Korean workers directly, but Pyongyang has called on the firms to hand over wages to it,” Human Rights Watch (HRW) was quoted as saying by the Voice of America (VOA), Thursday. “North Korean workers, therefore, only receive a certain portion of the original payment.”
HRW criticized the current wage row between the two Koreas, saying, the “Authorities’ unclear way of paying salaries could harm the direct benefit of a pay rise for workers at the complex.”
The joint factory park, established in 2004, is the last remaining symbol of inter-Korean cooperation, but recently the two Koreas have been at odds over a minimum wage level for some 53,000 North Korean workers there.
In February, the North unilaterally demanded that the minimum wage be raised from $70.35 to $74 per month starting from March.
But the South rejected this, saying that it would be a violation of a 2004 agreement that sets wages after the two sides discuss the issue.
Pyongyang notified Seoul Wednesday that it has extend the deadline for firms to pay March wages for workers at the GIC to this Friday. Ministry of Unification spokesman Lim Byung-chul said Pyongyang should resume talks over the prolonged wage row if it wants to deal with the issue during a press briefing, Friday.
HRW said the joint industrial park has played an important role in connecting the outside world to the reclusive country since it opened in 2004.
The U.S. based-group advised the South Korean government to pay more attention to the fair distribution of wages.
“Seoul needs to call on Pyongyang to guarantee the payment goes to North Korean workers rather than being stuck in a wage row,” the HRW was quoted as saying.
The human rights group also pointed out that the content of the GIC labor regulations lags far behind international standards.
It noted that the regulations do not include rights of association, rights to elect a representative, or the right to create a union for negotiations with management.