The government is planning to send a letter on Thursday to South Korean companies operating in the Gaeseong Industrial Complex asking them not to accept North Korea’s demand to raise its workers' wages.
 
A Unification Ministry official told reporters that in the letter, the government will request the South Korean firms calculate the wages for North Korean workers for March based on the existing monthly minimum wage of 70 dollars and 35 cents until an agreement on the matter is reached.
 
The official added that the letter will also state that if the companies do not follow government instructions, administrative and legal measures could be taken in line with a law that governs inter-Korean exchange and cooperation.
 
Last November, the North unilaterally revised labor provisions governing the industrial park, including removing the cap on minimum wage increases, and notified the South that it would raise its workers’ wages by five-and-a-half percent on average starting in March.
 
The South Korean firms in the complex are set to pay workers’ wages for March next Friday.