S. Korea raises pay for workers from North

Authorities from both countries agreed Friday to raise the minimum monthly wage to US$67, up 5 percent from last year, said Seoul's unification ministry that handles cross-border affairs. “The minimum wage has been raised 5 percent every year since 2007 ... in line with labor regulations,” a spokesman told AFP.

The industrial estate — established in 2004 as a symbol of cross-border cooperation — has remained operating despite rising cross-border tensions in recent years.

Some 52,292 North Koreans work at 123 small labor-intensive South Korean plants at Kaesong just north of the tense border, producing clothes, utensils, watches and other items.

Last year production was worth a record US$400 million compared to US$15 million in 2005. South Korea cut most trade with the North in May 2010 after accusing it of sinking a warship but exempted Kaesong. Supporters of the project say it serves to educate the communist state about the free-market system.

Wages are however paid to a North Korean state organization, which returns a percentage to the employees plus food and other perks.

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