DPRK & S. Korea meet over joint venture

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The two sides on the Korean Peninsula have ended their third round of talks over the Kaesong Joint Industrial Complex without scoring any major breakthroughs.

Officials from Seoul and Pyongyang remain sharply divided over how benefits should be shared between the two countries.

The industrial complex in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong houses more than a hundred South Korean companies. Between them, they employee around 40-thousand workers from the DPRK.

According to South Korean media, the DPRK demanded Seoul accept a revised version of the contracts.

The changes included a quadrupling of the monthly wage for the workers, and a thirty-fold hike in land rent. The DPRK did make some concessions, but the South rejected the deal.

Kim Young-Tak, Chief Delegate, South Korean Unification Ministry, said, "The DPRK repeated its demand for higher wages and lease payments but offered to lift some of the traffic restrictions that slowed the movement of materials and workers."

Kim Young-tak (C), senior representative for inter-Korean dialogues at South Korean Unification Ministry and head of a delegation, leaves at the Customs, Immigration and Quarantine office in Paju, about 45 km (28 miles) north of Seoul, June 19, 2009.REUTERS/Jo Yong-Hak