A South Korean who works at the Kaesong Industrial Complex in
North Korea has recounted recent unwelcome encounters at the joint-
Korean industrial park after Seoul cut all other trade ties with the
North amid escalating tensions. "At around 8 p.m., a dark figure
appeared in front of me as I was bicycling and I thought it was a North
Korean worker, but it was an armed soldier inside the complex," the
man said in an e-mail. "I was so scared that I couldn't even look at
him."
The Unification Ministry said allowing armed soldiers into the complex
is a violation of an inter-Korean accord. "What person in his right mind
would dare to ask an armed North Korean soldier what he's doing
there, especially when these soldiers look at South Koreans with
animosity?" the worker said.
He said armed sentries are posted at every guard post on the outer
limits of the complex and South Korean staff "are afraid of even going
for walks along those areas for fear of getting shot." When the U.S.
and South Korea were holding joint military exercises in March, the
tannoy in the complex blared out anti-South Korean propaganda
programs, including threats of deadly retribution against the South in
return for even a minor incursion across the border. "I was surprised
to hear the broadcasts, which threatened it is ready to kill all South
Koreans," the man said.
The worker said he is "sick and tired" of the frequent thefts and fines
imposed on South Koreans there. "Once I saw North Korean workers
sitting on the lawn and when I looked more closely, I realized that they
were picking out seeds," he said. "They were ordered to steal even
grass seeds." Food, office supplies and toilet paper regularly
disappear.
The North Korean authorities also impose various fines on South
Koreans to earn valuable U.S. dollars. A South Korean woman was
fined for wearing a short skirt, and other South Koreans were fined for
pointing at a mountain, smoking while driving and even for being
slightly late for work or for not leaving the complex on time.
"They fine us US$50 with unbelievable excuses," the man said. "They
seem to look at us as an endless source of money." Guidelines for the
joint industrial complex are constantly being abused by the North
Korean authorities to milk more money out of South Koreans.
The Unification Ministry said it had no statistics showing how much money
in fines South Korean workers have paid. Officials overseeing the complex apparently confiscate one out of two Choco Pie snacks that are given to North Korean workers.
"One day, I saw North Korean workers collecting empty Choco Pie boxes and
found out that they were filling each of them up with dozens of Choco
Pies they confiscated and were exporting them to China as new
products," the worker said.
Each North Korean worker at the complex is nominally paid between
$70 to $80 a month, but they rarely get to see that money.
The North Korean government takes away between $50 to $60 dollars,
and workers get the remaining $20 in food vouchers or exchanged into
North Korean money. The man said he met some workers who did
not know the dollar is the currency used in the U.S.
North Korean customs officials are also notorious for extortion.
When they find something new and interesting while checking through the
bags of South Koreans, they pounce. Customs confiscate anything
from cigarettes -- Marlboro being the most popular brand -- to shiny
key holders and put them in their own pockets.
"The South Korean government is also to blame," the man said. Seoul
reduced the number of South Koreans at the joint industrial complex
from 1,000 to 500 following the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan.
"Whether it's 1,000 South Korean lives, 500 or even one, each life is
valuable, but with that pointless staff reduction, work has simply
become more difficult," he added.
http://english.chosun.com/svc/news/printContent.html
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