North Korea withdraws demand for hefty wage hike at joint industrial park with South Korea

October 4th, 2009 North Korea demands SKorea return 11 defectorsSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea's Unification Ministry says North Korea has demanded Seoul return 11 people who defected to the South by sea last week. The ministry says in a statement that the North sent its demand in a message Sunday.

August 17th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea Monday put its troops on alert as an annual joint South Korean-US war game commenced and accused its neighbour of planning an attack. North Korea would react to any provocation with a "merciless and prompt annihilating strike at the aggressors with all offensive and defensive means, including nuclear deterrent", state media quoted the high command of the Korean People's Army as saying.

August 17th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea Monday said it was reopening its borders for inter-Korean tourism projects with South Korea and to remove obstacles from the operation of a jointly-run business park, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported. In a joint press release, Hyundai and North's Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee, which runs inter-Korean business affairs, announced to "restore" passage for South Korean personnel to the Kaesong industrial park.

June 19th, 2009 SKorea rejects North's demand on factory parkSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea on Friday rejected North Korea's demand for a massive increase in wages and rent at a joint industrial park struggling to stay afloat, leaving the fate of more than 100 companies and 40,000 workers there hanging in balance. The meeting comes amid tension on the peninsula over the North's missile and nuclear program.

June 19th, 2009 NKorea demands massive payments at joint projectSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea refused to back down Friday on its demand for a massive increase in payments at a joint industrial park, but offered to relax border restrictions that have undermined the complex — a sign it may still want to keep the zone. Last week, the North demanded a fourfold increase in wages for its 40,000 workers and a 3,000 percent hike in rent for the complex in its border city of Kaesong, which houses more than 100 South Korean factories and is the divided nations' last remaining joint reconciliation project.

June 18th, 2009 SKorea to demand NKorea to free detained workerSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea will demand the release of a citizen held by North Korea when the two countries meet for a third round of talks over the fate of a troubled joint factory park, an official said Thursday. Friday's meeting at the North Korean border town of Kaesong, the site of the industrial park, comes amid rising tension in the peninsula over the North's nuclear program.

June 11th, 2009 NKorea makes demands of South over industrial parkSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea demanded a 3,000 percent hike in rent Thursday from South Korea for the site of a joint industrial park at the center of a dispute roiling their relations. It also sought a more than fourfold increase in wages for North Korean workers employed by South Korean companies at the park, an official said.

May 27th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea Wednesday warned it will respond militarily to South Korea joining a US-led initiative to intercept ships carrying illicit weapons, the South Korean Yonhap news agency said.

May 9th, 2009 N.Korea says dialogue with S.Korea out of questionSEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said Saturday that it would not even consider talking with South Korea, lashing out at Seoul for criticizing the isolated country's human rights record. South Korea had been planning to propose talks on the two countries' troubled joint industrial complex, but the statement put any such talks in doubt.

April 21st, 2009 SEOUL - The first direct talks between the governments of North and South Korea in more than a year were delayed Tuesday because of differences over procedural issues, South Korea said. Seoul's delegation to the talks in the North Korean border city of Kaesong was initially unsure of who would take part from the North Korean side, a spokeswoman for the South's Unification Ministry said.

April 21st, 2009 SEOUL - The first direct talks between the governments of North and South Korea in more than a year lasted for around 20 minutes Tuesday, South Korean officials said. There were no details as to what had been discussed at the meeting, which took place in the North Korean border city of Kaesong at an industrial park operated jointly by the two neighbours.

April 21st, 2009 Inter-Korean talks begin after hours of delaySEOUL, South Korea — South Korea says talks with North Korea about a troubled joint factory complex in the communist country have begun after hours of delay. Unification Ministry spokeswoman Kim Ho-nyeon said that the talks began Tuesday night at the Kaesong Industrial Complex across the border in North Korea.

April 19th, 2009 SEOUL - The South Korean government Sunday said that it has decided to accept Pyongyang's offer for holding inter-Korean talks next week. It will be the first governmental talks between South Korea and North Korea since South Korean President Lee Myung-bak took office in February last year.

April 17th, 2009 NKorea proposes meeting on joint factory parkSEOUL, South Korea — South Korea says that North Korea has proposed a meeting on a joint factory park in the North next week. Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Ho-nyeon told reporters Saturday that the North recently proposed a meeting to discuss the joint complex in the border town of Kaesong.

March 6th, 2009 SEOUL - North Korea Thursday indirectly threatened to shoot down South Korean passenger aircraft in its airspace, amid growing tension on the Korean peninsula. North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea made the threat as the US and South Korea prepared to undertake joint military exercises next Monday.