North Korea has proposed a new wage rate for North Korean laborers working at the inter-Korean industrial complex in the North’s border town of Gaeseong. Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo said last Friday that North Korea had proposed South Korean firms at the Gaeseong Complex limit this year’s wage hike for North Korean workers to the current five percent. The suggestion indicates North Korea has backed down from its strident demand in June to increase wages for its workers by four times to 300 U.S. dollars a month. Accordingly, once the two Koreas agree on the proposal, a North Korea worker’s minimum monthly wage will be raised from the current 55 dollars to 57 dollars, and the new wage will be applied, retroactively from August this year to July 31st next year. Dr. Dong Yong-seung from the Samsung Economic Research Institute interprets North Korea’s sudden proposal in two ways.

All of a sudden, North Korea proposed a five-percent wage hike, which is in line with that of previous years. North Korean law stipulates a five-percent pay raise each year for workers at the Gaeseong Complex. To raise their monthly wage to 300 dollars, as North Korea had demanded before, the law must be revised. To revise the law, South and North Korea should reach an agreement, but it’s hard for the two sides to do so right now. For that reason, the North seems to have decided to follow the current five-percent rule. Other than this technical problem, North Korea apparently concluded that Seoul wouldn’t accept the North’s unrealistic demand for a wage increase to 300 dollars, with Pyongyang making a series of conciliatory gestures to South Korea of late. North Korea’s far more modest wage proposal is viewed as part of its efforts to normalize the Gaeseong industrial park amid this conciliatory mood.

North Korea’s recent proposal is widely considered an extension of the appeasement measures it has taken since Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun’s North Korea visit last month. Of the five agreements reached between Hyun and North Korea, the two sides started implementing the reunions of separated families and the North lifted restrictions on cross-border trips for South Koreans. Pyongyang is now starting to take necessary measures to facilitate the Gaeseong industrial complex. Also, the proposal is interpreted as North Korea’s intention to mitigate the negative public sentiment toward the North within South Korean society, following the deaths of six South Koreans along the Imjin River due to a massive discharge of water from a North Korean dam. But diplomatic experts maintain that risk factors involving the Gaeseong project still remain, since North Korea neither clarified its intention to completely withdraw its previous demand for the hefty wage increase, nor made any reference to the land-use fee at the industrial park.

It’s hard to say whether the North’s proposal will influence the Gaeseong industrial park project positively or negatively, because the two sides have simply returned to a stage on which the problems didn’t arise, rather than improving the overall conditions for the Gaeseong Park. I don’t think they have completely eliminated various risk factors. Given the North’s typically unpredictable attitude, it’s possible that North Korea may make a second demand for a 300-dollar pay raise or repeat its previous demand that the South pay 500 million dollars for land use at the complex. The two sides have yet to resolve the three obstacles blocking progress in the Gaeseong project, namely, restrictions in passage, communications and customs clearance. These fundamental problems still remain unsettled.

It’s too early to predict that North Korea has changed its attitude. Experts voice the need to resolve impending issues about the Gaeseong industrial park through working-level talks between the authorities of the two Koreas. South Korean companies doing business at the industrial complex have expressed relief over the North’s new proposal for a wage increase and its decision to ease restrictions on cross-border traffic, but they continue to insist that inter-Korean working-level talks resume quickly to restore normal operation of the joint industrial complex. Meanwhile, some experts are questioning the possibility of resuming inter-Korean dialogue, while South Korea remains angered by the recent flooding incident caused by North Korea. But Dr. Dong says the Imjin River flood is one issue, and the Gaeseong project is another.

South Korea strongly urges North Korea to apologize for the unannounced release of water into the Imjin River and to prevent such flooding disasters, but the North remains silent. If South Korea keeps insisting that working-level discussions about the Gaeseong project be held only after the dispute about the flooding incident is resolved, the Gaeseong industrial park might see a fate similar to the Mt. Geumgang tour program. A South Korean tourist was shot dead inside the North’s mountain resort, so the South inevitably linked the tragic incident with the tour business. Of course, both the recent flooding along the Imjin River and the Gaeseong project are important inter-Korean matters. But I don’t see any direct connection between the two matters. I think the two sides must address the problems in accordance with common sense.

The South Korean government remains circumspect about the North’s recent move. During a breakfast meeting with security policy advisers last Friday, President Lee Myung-bak said North Korea has taken a double-faced attitude, showing conciliatory gestures on one hand, while claiming progress in its nuclear program on the other. Lee added that inter-Korean relations are now at a critical juncture and the Seoul government won’t be swayed by individual occasions, stressing that Seoul’s policy toward Pyongyang will remain consistent. Dr. Dong asks the government to be more proactive and positive when dealing with North Korea.

It’s most important to get the Gaeseong business back to normal. That means, existing organizations and facilities related to the industrial park should resume normal operations. South and North Korea should be focused on consistent and extensive discussions aimed at advancing their joint industrial park. To this end, the two sides need to hold working-level talks at an early date and handle the pending issues one by one. A series of inter-Korean mishaps indicate that the Gaeseong business isn’t entirely free from political issues, including the nuclear crisis. So it’s also necessary to create stable political and military environments in order to sustain and develop the industrial park.

The government is discussing the proposed wage rate with South Korean businesses operating in Gaeseong and will try to sign an agreement with the North as soon as possible. It’s hoped North Korea’s continued peace-making gestures will jumpstart normal operation of the Gaeseong industrial complex.


[Interview] Former N. Korean Defector Leads Art Troupe, Lectures on Unification Issues
The Five North Korean Provinces Office in Gugi-dong, northern Seoul, is filled with exciting music and laughter. Here’s former North Korean defector Kim Young-ok, who also plays host to this music show, to tell us about the eye-catching event.

The Youth Association of the Five North Korean Provinces organized this music event for senior citizens. The association consists of second and third generations whose fathers or grandfathers came from South Pyongan Province in North Korea. These young people spent their own private expenses to treat and entertain the elderly. They also held a talent contest, which awards a lot of prizes to winners. Today’s event provided a meaningful venue where many North Korean expatriates who left their families and homes in North Korea long ago could mingle with each other and reminisce about their lost homes.

Kim escaped North Korea in 2001. After arriving in the South, she set up the Pyongyang Folk Art Troupe with other North Korean defectors who had been artists in their home country, and introduced North Korea music and dance to the South Korean public. Born in Pyongyang, Kim started singing at the tender age of six and was quickly recognized as a promising artist in North Korea. Unfortunately, she was no longer allowed to stand on stage after her father fell victim to a purge campaign. She finally fled from North Korea and arrived in the South, carrying with her the big dream of becoming a singer once again. But it wasn’t easy to adjust to South Korea’s performing culture, which was starkly different from North Korea’s.

South Korean culture is shared by the general public, while North Korean culture is more about regime propaganda. There are various genres of music, such as ballads, jazz, hard rock and trot in South Korea. In contrast, there is only one kind of music in the North. North Korean singers use peculiar vocalization and incorporate it with traditional folk songs of western regions to develop a unique form of music. But this is different from traditional Korean music or pansori, which is Korean opera. Also, North Korean audiences are not allowed to applaud randomly. They must follow certain rules when clapping their hands. Here in South Korea, audience members shout, applaud and even sing together with the performers if they want. I was very surprised to see that.

When Kim started her music career here in South Korea, she found it very difficult to endure the cold response from the audiences. Looking back, she realizes the unenthusiastic reaction was natural, because all the song and dance performances were staged in North Korean style. So Kim decided to develop a new genre that would appeal to the South Korean public. She tried various types of performances, mixing North Korean elements with traditional folk songs, such as Arirang. As a result, more and more people started coming to her shows. Nowadays, she holds concerts several times a day. Having regained confidence, Kim turned her eyes to another activity—lecturing on unification and inter-Korean issues.

South and North Korea are widely different, since they have been divided for over fifty years. At present, some 16-thousand North Korean defectors have resettled in the South. I lecture on cultural and economic differences between the two Koreas and how the North Korean newcomers are struggling to acclimate to a new environment here. It’s frustrating that many children don’t know what happened on June 25, 1950. Some even ask me, “Japan invaded Korea on that day, didn’t it?” I explain to them how our ancestors defended and developed South Korea. I also stress the need for starting to prepare for unification right now.

The defector-turned-musician and lecturer has gone through great difficulty and is now moving closer to her dream step by step. We hope Kim’s unyielding spirit and great willpower will give hope and encouragement to her fellow North Korean defectors.