The North Korean online portal “uriminzokkiri.com” says the North wants wages for North Korean workers at the inter-Korean Gaeseong Industrial Complex in the North to be set at a minimum of 200 U.S. dollars a month.

The portal said the North requested the level during working-level talks with the South on the complex's operation held Monday in Gaeseong.

In an interview with the portal, a North Korean delegate to the talks reportedly said that the current daily wage of two to three dollars is not enough to pay for a single meal.

North Korean workers at the Gaeseong complex currently receive 57 dollars a month, excluding social security fees.

A Unification Ministry official in Seoul denied the portal's claim, saying that the North has, in the past, insisted that the wage hike be discussed but that it did not specify an amount during the Monday talks.