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SEOUL: South Korean companies operating at a joint industrial estate in North Korea have said they face bankruptcy in many cases because of icy cross-border relations.
In a joint statement they demanded that the South Korean government improve ties with the North so that the Kaesong estate can run normally.
"If this is difficult, we urge the government to shut down the estate, order our withdrawal and set up extraordinary measures aimed at compensating our losses to the fullest extent," the statement said.
The factory bosses also demanded that the communist North withdraw "unilateral and unacceptable" wage and rent demands, ease restrictions on border crossings and guarantee the safety of South Koreans working there.
The North has since March 30 been detaining a South Korean employee accused of criticising its communist system and trying to persuade a local woman worker to defect.
Kaesong opened in December 2004 as a symbol of reconciliation. Its future has become increasingly clouded as North-South relations have worsened and as the North's nuclear standoff with the outside world has intensified.
Kim Hak-Kwon, president of the Corporate Council of Kaesong Industrial Complex, said many of the 105 South Korean firms face bankruptcy as orders slump because of political tension.
"Restraining ourselves from making complaints, we've been suffering quietly while inter-Korean ties have been sinking to new lows," Kim said.
"But now it's high time that special measures are taken as our very existence is in danger," he told journalists following an emergency meeting of company representatives.
So far, 89 of the firms have incurred combined cumulative losses of 39.7 billion won (US$31 million), Kim said, calling for the South Korean government to provide lifeline loans.
The bosses urged both governments to compromise when they resume talks on July 2 on the North's demand for huge increases in wages and rent. The South insists it cannot accept them.
- AFP/yb
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