SKay is the Manager and NKay is the Union Boss
The Koreas adopt early 19th century labor laws. What does the average North Korean get?
At Kaesong, the minimum wage for the 48-hour week is $57.50. But $7.50 is deducted for “social charges” paid to the North Korean government. The remaining $50 is paid to a North Korean government labor broker. None of the South Korean factory managers interviewed would guess how much of the $50 salary ends up in the pockets of workers.
“The exact amount is determined by North Korean authorities,” said Kim Dong Keun, a South Korean who chairs the Kaesong Industrial District Management Committee.
Under labor contracting arrangements in Russia and Eastern Europe, North Korea’s government often withholds half of their workers’ salaries.
Attempts to interview seamstresses at the Shinwon, factory elicited evasive responses and intervention by South Korean guides.
“No interviews with North Korean officials or employees are allowed,” Mira Sun, the foreign press aide to South Korea’s president, Roh Moo Hyun, lectured reporters by loudspeaker in one bus after reporters tried to interview seamstresses.
So the average worker gets around $1.20/hr. $.17 get deducted for the DPRK version of payroll taxes (probably doesn’t go to Social Security), and if the previous contracts are any indication, $.51 or $.60 are withheld by the government (union dues for the Worker’s Party I guess). The average North Korean worker in Kaesong will get around $.60/hr, lower than the average wages of places like Bangladesh or India, great for South Korean companies and consumers, not so great for North Koreans.
This probably is not so bad for North Koreans relative to many other places throughout Asia. One cannot criticize North Korean labor laws without seeing what’s wrong with a lot of labor laws in other 3rd world countries. Though one wonder what the heck do South Koreans mean when they call the North Koreans their brothers? Come to think of it, I think the Sunshine Policy can be translated as the South treats the North as more of a distant relative, someone you really don’t care about until the family reunion once a year.
At this rate of such “economic reform”, it would take many generations before it is “ready” for reunification.
As a member LiNK, I ask, “how many more millions are going to die before that happens?”
Update: Time to redo some math. The average North Korean will get $57.50 a month, not a week. After the deduction of a $7.50 North Korean payroll tax (probably goes to KJI’s Social Security account in Switzerland), the salary gets further deducted by the government to around $8 a month. Then again, it’s North Korea, what the do you need currency for?
Here’s an additional link from the LATimes describing Kaesong. If anyone has seen The Island, it’s kind of like that, probably including the organ harvesting.
