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China-Japan-Koreas
U.S. might consider Kaesong goods to be South Korean
2007-02-08
SEOUL, Feb. 5 (Yonhap) -- The United States may recognize goods produced at a joint industrial complex just north of the border as South Korean if there is a change in circumstances, the top U.S. diplomat here said Monday. In a one-hour meeting with Unification Minister Lee Jae-joung, U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow said that while it is unrealistic to recognize the goods made in the border city of Kaesong as South Korean, there is room left to negotiate within the proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries, Unification Ministry officials said.

"Lee stressed that U.S. recognition of the goods produced in Kaesong as South Korean will contribute to bringing about a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. Vershbow said 'if,' but he did not elaborate on what kind of change under what kind of circumstances," said a ministry official who was present at the meeting, but who asked to remain anonymous.
How about ensuring that the workers in Kaesong have the same rights as workers in South Korea, including pay, benefits, the right to unionize, the right to change jobs, and the right to file grievances?
So far, the U.S. has avoided placing the issue on the official agenda of the FTA negotiations, so Vershbow's remarks could be construed as a slight change in U.S. strategy toward forging a free trade deal with South Korea.

In spite of United Nations sanctions on the North following its nuclear weapon test in October, South Korea has kept two major cross-border joint projects afloat: an industrial complex in Kaesong just north of the border, and a tourism program at the North's scenic Mount Geumgang. In the industrial complex, South Korean businesses use cheap North Korean labor to produce goods. Twenty-one South Korean factories employ about 11,160 North Korean workers in Kaesong.

The six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons program, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia, will reconvene in Beijing on Thursday.
Kaesong is a sham: it's where SKor conglomerates go to find really cheap labor. Much of the money paid in 'wages' goes into Poofy-Hair's bank accounts. The U.S. should stand firm against this until the SKors do some arm-twisting on the north.
Posted by:Steve White

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