Female N. Korean worker defected from Kaesong complex: activist

SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Yonhap) -- A North Korean woman trying to defect has been staying
in a third country after escaping from an inter-Korean industrial complex in the
border city of Kaesong where she used to work, a South Korean activist here said
Wednesday.
The 27-year-old woman, whose identity was withheld for her safety, fled Kaesong
in late September and has since asked for help to travel to South Korea,
according to Kim Yong-hwa, who leads a Seoul-based civic group advocating for the
human rights of North Korea defectors.
This is the first known defection of a North Korean worker at the Kaesong
industrial complex, where about 36,000 North Koreans are employed by dozens of
South Korean factories operating under the tight control of Pyongyang
authorities.
Seoul officials say the workers were carefully selected from a pool of young
people with good family backgrounds, and who were from the North Korean border
city as well as the capital city Pyongyang, so that they would be not easily
influenced by capitalism.
Exactly what motivated the woman to defect is not known, but Kim said the young
woman apparently was forced to choose between her marriage and her job, which
earned her a relatively good salary in the impoverished nation.
The communist North bans female workers at Kaesong plants from getting married, a
violation of their rights, Kim added. "She is said to have gotten a warning once
from the authorities over the matter," he said.
He claimed North Korea exploits its workers at Kaesong by giving them only US$2
out of their monthly wage of about US$60 paid by South Korean firms.
Currently, 88 labor-intensive garment, kitchenware and other types of South
Korean manufacturers operate in Kaesong. Pyongyang recently expelled hundreds of
South Korean officials and managers from the complex in an effort to pressure
Seoul to change its hardline North Korea policy.
sshim@yna.co.kr
(END)