The Unification Ministry says that the North Korean government mostly pays North Koreans working in the inter-Korean Gaesong Industrial Complex with imported goods instead of cash.

The ministry said Tuesday that this year North Koreans working at the park received a monthly salary of 41 U.S. dollars. Some five percent of the wages were paid in cash, with the remainder given in imported daily necessities like flour and rice.

The ministry said that North Korea imports such products from China and Malaysia through a joint trading company set up by the North Korean government and Korean-Australian Song Yong-deung.

The ministry reached the conclusion based on explanations from Song, a North Korean agency concerned and South Korean companies conducting business there.