ID :
19935
Wed, 09/17/2008 - 11:06
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/19935
The shortlink copeid
Lee skeptical about dormitory construction at Kaesong complex
By Yoo Cheong-mo
SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak has reacted skeptically to South Korean companies' plans to build a dormitory for North Korean workers at an inter-Korean industrial complex in the North's border town of Kaesong, a group of South Korean businessmen who met the president recently said Wednesday.
The government of Lee's predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun, concluded a deal with
Pyongyang last December to build a dormitory capable of accommodating 15,000
North Korean manual workers to be employed by South Korean companies operating in
the Kaesong industrial park located just north of the inter-Korean border.
With inter-Korean dialogue suspended following Lee's inauguration in February,
however, Kaesong's dormitory project has not made any further progress.
At present, about 32,000 North Koreans work for 79 South Korean manufacturing
plants at the Kaesong complex, a legacy of the previous South Korean liberal
governments' engagement policy towards the North. The North Korean workers
commute by bus from Kaesong, which has a population of about 150,000.
North Korea has persistently asked for the construction of dormitory facilities
inside the industrial complex, citing the fact that additional South Korean
plants to be built there in the future would find it difficult to recruit
sufficient workers from among Kaesong residents.
According to the South Korean businessmen who met Lee at a public event in
Cheonan, south of Seoul, last Wednesday, the president expressed concern about
possible negative effects from the consolidation of North Korean workers staying
together at one dormitory on the corporate activities of South Korean investors.
"During the Cheonan meeting, President Lee pointed out that an expected
solidarity among North Korean dormitory residents could trigger labor-management
conflict and even an inter-Korean conflict," said one of the businessmen.
"The president also noted that he wants the dormitory issue to be approached
from the perspective of economy and management, instead of ideology," he
said.
Lee has demanded that South and North Korea immediately resume dialogue across
the board for discussions on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,
implementation of the existing inter-Korean summit agreements and cross-border
humanitarian and economic cooperation.
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)
SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak has reacted skeptically to South Korean companies' plans to build a dormitory for North Korean workers at an inter-Korean industrial complex in the North's border town of Kaesong, a group of South Korean businessmen who met the president recently said Wednesday.
The government of Lee's predecessor, Roh Moo-hyun, concluded a deal with
Pyongyang last December to build a dormitory capable of accommodating 15,000
North Korean manual workers to be employed by South Korean companies operating in
the Kaesong industrial park located just north of the inter-Korean border.
With inter-Korean dialogue suspended following Lee's inauguration in February,
however, Kaesong's dormitory project has not made any further progress.
At present, about 32,000 North Koreans work for 79 South Korean manufacturing
plants at the Kaesong complex, a legacy of the previous South Korean liberal
governments' engagement policy towards the North. The North Korean workers
commute by bus from Kaesong, which has a population of about 150,000.
North Korea has persistently asked for the construction of dormitory facilities
inside the industrial complex, citing the fact that additional South Korean
plants to be built there in the future would find it difficult to recruit
sufficient workers from among Kaesong residents.
According to the South Korean businessmen who met Lee at a public event in
Cheonan, south of Seoul, last Wednesday, the president expressed concern about
possible negative effects from the consolidation of North Korean workers staying
together at one dormitory on the corporate activities of South Korean investors.
"During the Cheonan meeting, President Lee pointed out that an expected
solidarity among North Korean dormitory residents could trigger labor-management
conflict and even an inter-Korean conflict," said one of the businessmen.
"The president also noted that he wants the dormitory issue to be approached
from the perspective of economy and management, instead of ideology," he
said.
Lee has demanded that South and North Korea immediately resume dialogue across
the board for discussions on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,
implementation of the existing inter-Korean summit agreements and cross-border
humanitarian and economic cooperation.
ycm@yna.co.kr
(END)
