The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will deal with the joint Kaesong Industrial Park at will, the official KCNA (Korean Central News Agency) reported on Friday, citing a government spokesman.
The working contact on the industrial park was "in the phase of breakdown due to the insincere attitude on the part of the South Korean authorities," said a spokesman from the General Bureau for Central Guidance to the Development of the Special Zone of the DPRK.
He warned that "in case the South side fails to honestly approach the working contact, the North side will go according to its decision as it has already clarified."
The statement came a week after the two sides failed to reach an agreement in talks over the Kaesong estate or even decide on a date for the next round of talks.
The spokesman also blasted South Korea for "raising a spate of issues irrelevant to the revision of the contracts" on the industrial park, challenging the DPRK's "magnanimity and sincerity."
Kaesong is the first cooperative manufacturing venture where South Korean firms use labor from the North. The two sides have held several rounds of working contacts since April to discuss issues regarding the industrial park.
The DPRK has reportedly proposed to increase the DPRK employees' salary from 70 U.S. dollars per month to 300 dollars and raise the land rental fee from 16 million dollars to 500 million dollars. South Korea rejected the proposals, claiming that the DPRK was "going too far."
Seoul also urged the DPRK to release a South Korean detained in the complex since March 30.
As of late May, there were over 30,000 DPRK people employed at over 100 South Korean textile, watch, cosmetic case and other factories.
(Xinhua News Agency July 10, 2009)
