It has been confirmed that North Korea summoned the heads of South Korean companies operating in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex for a meeting on Tuesday.
 
A Unification Ministry official told reporters Tuesday that the North’s Central Guidance Bureau for Special Zone Development summoned the business heads to its main office for the meeting that is scheduled for 11 a.m. 
 
It is unprecedented for the bureau to call the heads of South Korean firms for a meeting instead of officials of the South’s Gaeseong Industrial District Management Committee.
 
The bureau apparently is convening the meeting to explain the North’s position on unilaterally revising labor provisions governing the industrial park, including removing the cap on minimum wage increases, and to pressure the South Korean companies on the matter.
 
In Seoul, the government has asked the company heads not to attend Tuesday’s meeting.
 
The government, on its part, plans to convene a meeting on Tuesday afternoon with the heads of the 124 South Korean firms that have operations in the joint industrial park.
 
The government is expected to urge the firms not to accept the North’s demands for wage increases and explain that it will utilize the economic cooperation insurance to minimize any damages the firms could face from retaliation by the North.