South Korea has made it clear that it cannot accept North Korea's unilateral demand to raise the minimum wage of workers at the inter-Korean Gaeseong Industrial Complex.
 
During a briefing Friday, Unification Ministry spokesman Lim Byeong-cheol addressed the North's notification of a five-point-18 percent minimum wage hike at the factory park in the North.
 
The spokesman said that the South cannot accept actions that reverse further development of the joint factory park. 
 
He then proposed holding the sixth meeting of the Gaeseong complex joint management committee on March 13th, saying issues related to the inter-Korean complex including wage concerns must be resolved through governmental talks.
 
The spokesman went on to say that South Korea signed a free trade agreement with China in which the Gaeseong complex is recognized as an outward processing zone with hopes to further advance and globalize the inter-Korean venture. 
 
While noting Seoul's efforts on multiple fronts to attract foreign business to the Gaeseong park, Lim stressed that now is the time for the North to respond to South Korean endeavors to further develop the joint complex. 
 
On Tuesday, North Korea unilaterally informed the South that the minimum monthly wage of its workers at the Gaeseong complex would rise five-point-18 percent next month to 74 dollars.
 
Responding to the North's unilateral notice, Seoul on Thursday sent a written notice under the name of the industrial park's joint committee head expressing regret and stating that a unilateral wage hike is unacceptable. The South also asked for the North's cooperation to hold an inter-Korean joint committee meeting but Pyongyang refused to even receive the notice.