North Korea Demands Minimum Wage Hike for Near Slave Labor Workers

Instead of trying to use claims of setting up a Social Security system for the Kaesong workers, the North Korean negotiators now appear to be trying to make use of the minimum wage fight in the US and claim it is their sovereign right to wage the minimum wage for Kaesong workers:

The two Koreas are holding talks to settle the dispute over the wages of North Korean workers employed at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex in the North.

The sixth round of talks of a joint inter-Korean committee in charge of running the complex is under way at the complex in the North Korean border city.

During a plenary session Thursday morning, the two Koreas exchanged opinions on the wage dispute, issues concerning border passage, customs and communications as well as improving working conditions at the factory zone.

In the afternoon, Lee Sang-min from the Unification Ministry, heading the talks, and his North Korean counterpart Pak Chol-su, a vice director of the North’s special economic zone development department, held two chief delegates’ meetings and discussed the wage concern.

A Unification Ministry official in Seoul said the mood in the talks was not bad, but results of the meeting are not yet known.

Before the morning session began Thursday, Lee welcomed news of Pak expressing hope that the day’s meeting would serve as “welcome rain” for cross-border relations.

The North Korean official went on to metaphorically say that recent downpours have in fact considerably helped harvest conditions in the North.

He said that he believes the latest talks can produce good results just like a long awaited rain after a drought for business people hoping for the success of the complex and all Koreans longing to see inter-Korean relations improve.

The Thursday talks are known to have particularly focused on the contentious issue of revising labor regulations including a five percent cap on minimum wage growth.

North Korea contends setting the minimum wage is a sovereign right while the South calls for an inter-Korean agreement on the issue per the previous rule.  [KBS World Radio]

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