Is South Korea Giving In To North Korean Kaesong Wage Demands?

It appears that the South Koreans are giving into the unilateral wage hikes the North Koreans having been demanding to provide so called “Social Security” to their workers at the Kaesong Industrial Complex:

As the North has rejected formal talks, the South is seeking a resolution through the Kaesong Industrial District Management Committee, a quasi-government organization, according to a senior unification ministry official.

“We are positively considering consultations between the committee and the (North’s) Central Special Development Guidance Bureau,” he told reporters on background.

The committee is ostensibly a North Korean organ but headed by South Korean government officials. Kim Nam-sik, South Korea’s former vice unification minister, chairs the committee.

The ministry official said it’s urgent to resolve the wage problem as 124 South Korean firms there will begin to pay March’s wages to around 53,000 North Korean employees on April 10.

“Once the wage issue is resolved, we can discuss the problem of the general labor rules,” he said.

His comments suggested the possibility of the South accepting the North’s decision on the 5.18-percent wage hike in a bid to buy time for dialogue on how to operate the Kaesong zone, which is susceptible to Pyongyang’s unpredictable measures.  [Yonhap]

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