With the two Koreas at odds over the North's demand for a wage hike at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex, the pay period for March began last Friday.
 
Unification Ministry Spokesman Lim Byung-cheol told reporters on Monday that no South Korean firms have yet made wage payments to the North, and the North has issued no particular response.
 
Most of the South Korean companies are expected to pay workers on the last day of the eleven-day payment period on Monday of next week, after closely watching developments between the two Koreas.
 
Last Tuesday, South Korea’s Gaeseong Industrial District Management Committee and the North’s Central Guidance Bureau for Special Zone Development discussed the wage issue but failed to reach an agreement.
 
On February 24, the North unilaterally informed Seoul of its decision to raise the minimum monthly salary of North Korean workers by five-point-18 percent to 74 dollars beginning in March.