SEOUL, May 19 (Yonhap) -- A senior conservative politician on Tuesday urged the South Korean government to risk pulling out from an inter-Korean joint industrial park rather than be dragged along by Pyongyang's unilateral demands."Our government should first lay out the bottom line, and in case that doesn't work with North Korea, it should be prepared to pull out," Lee Hoi-chang, chairman of the minor opposition Liberty Forward Party, said in an in-house meeting.
Lee's position is drawing support from some hardliners in the South, following North Korea's announcement last week that it has scrapped all wage and land contracts regarding the inter-Korean complex. Pyongyang told South Korean firms operating at the park, which is on North Korean soil, to accept the new terms or leave.
"Only after it's prepared for a pullout should the government engage in negotiations. It should not be dragged along at North Korea's whim and must be able to lead the negotiations to protect our business interests," Lee said.
The complex, just an hour's drive from Seoul in the border city of Kaesong, is a major legacy of the previous liberal Kim Dae-jung and Roh Moo-hyun governments that tried to reconcile with and open up the North through cooperation projects. More than 100 South Korean firms now operate at the park, matching their capital and technology with the cheap but skilled labor offered by nearly 40,000 North Korean employees.
Seoul officials said they will continue efforts to seek dialogue with Pyongyang to keep the joint park alive, after their two earlier proposals for talks were rejected or ignored. At inter-Korean talks on April 21, North Korea said the wages South Korean firms pay local employees are too low and that they should also start paying for land use by next year, four years ahead of schedule.
Pyongyang has refused to discuss the fate of a South Korean worker being held in Kaesong, identified only by his family name Yu. The employee of Hyundai Asan Corp, the developer of the joint park, was detained on March 30 , accused of criticizing the North's political system. North Korea has denied access to the man. The two sides have been unable to set up the second round of talks due to agenda differences.