N. Korea spurns S. Korea's call for talks on Kaesong wages

North Korea claimed Thursday its decision to raise wages for its workers at the Kaesong Industrial Complex is a legitimate measure under its sovereignty, dimming hopes of an early resolution to disputes between the two Koreas over the issue.

The North's Central Special Development Guidance Bureau, which is in charge of operating the complex, made clear that it is not a matter to be decided through consultations with the South's government. Last month, Pyongyang notified Seoul of its unilateral decision to elevate the minimum wage from US$70.35 to $74 starting in March.

It also said it would collect 15 percent of their basic wage plus overtime payments as "social security." Currently, the South's firms pay 15 percent of the basic wage alone.

The South strongly protested against the decision, suggesting that the two sides hold dialogue on March 13 to discuss the problem. Officials here emphasized that the two Koreas have agreed to decide every issue related with the operation of the joint venture through mutual consultations.

Created in 2004, the zone in the North's border town of Kaesong accommodates 124 South Korean firms, which employee around 53,000 workers in the communist nation. The decision on the wage hike is a "normal and legitimate" exercise of the North's legislative rights, the bureau's spokesman told Pyongyang's propaganda website, Uriminzokkiri.

It's not a subject for bargaining with the South, he added.

It makes no sense, he added, for the North to hold talks with the South at a time when it is staging a war rehearsal with joint military drills with the United States on the peninsula.

He argued that wages for the North's workers in Kaesong are still low for their heightened skills and productivity and in comparison with the wage level in special economic zones in other nations. (Yonhap)