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Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Australia China India Indonesia Japan Malaysia Philippines Thailand Vietnam Search Search: NKorea scraps contracts with SKorean firms in joint zone AFP - Saturday, May 16 SEOUL (AFP) - - North Korea said Friday it has scrapped all wage and rent agreements with South Korea at a joint industrial estate and told some 100 South Korean companies to leave if they cannot accept it. ADVERTISEMENT "The future of the Kaesong industrial complex depends entirely on South Korea's attitude," a government agency in charge of the estate just north of the border said in a statement. The announcement cast doubt on the continued operations of the Seoul-funded estate, opened in 2005 as a symbol of reconciliation but frequently hit by political tensions. At a rare meeting last month the communist state demanded pay rises for its workers and land-use fees. Seoul says the fate of a South Korean manager detained at the estate since March 30 must be settled before any other negotiations. "We declare all related regulations and contracts regarding the Kaesong industrial complex null and void," the North's agency said in a statement on official media. It said it would immediately start working on new regulations which South Korean firms must "unconditionally" accept or leave. Seoul rejected the move. "We'll never accept this unilateral step... if the North unilaterally pushes through with this measure, all responsibility will rest with the North," said Kim Ho-Nyoun, spokesman for the unification ministry. The United States on Friday described the move as "unhelpful". "We have seen reports that North Korea may cancel contracts at the Kaesong industrial complex. Such a precipitous action by North Korea would be unhelpful and a step in the wrong direction," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said. "The United States supports dialogue between North Korea and South Korea which is in the interests of all concerned," Kelly told reporters. Cross-border ties have worsened sharply since a conservative government took office in Seoul in February 2008 and vowed to link major economic aid to the North's progress in nuclear disarmament. The North is also at odds with the international community over its April 5 rocket launch. After the UN Security Council censured the launch, Pyongyang announced it would quit six-nation nuclear disarmament talks and stage another nuclear test. It is also holding two US journalists and says they will go on trial on June 4 for illegal entry and "hostile" acts. Yoo Chang-Geun, deputy chief of the body representing the South Korean firms, urged the government to narrow differences with the North through negotiations. "It is impossible to leave the complex now. North Korea knows well that our withdrawal will cause enormous economic losses," he said. The Seoul government and South Korean businesses have invested 730 billion won (548 million dollars) into the venture since construction began in 2002. "This (announcement) is part of a well-meditated calculation," Professor Yang Moo-Jin of Seoul's University of North Korean Studies told AFP. "Kaesong may be closed if the North demands drastic rises in wages and the South finds it unacceptable." Analysts have said the North may be willing to forgo millions of dollars in revenue because it fears the side effects of exposing its workers to South Koreans' lifestyle. "The critical factor is that locals in the Kaesong region get to see the lives of South Koreans first-hand and that their longing for the South grows," Professor Yang Moon-Soo at the same university told a forum this week. The two Koreas held their first government-level talks in more than a year on April 21, at which the North demanded pay rises and land-use fees. It refused to grant access to the South Korean, detained for allegedly slandering the North's political system and trying to persuade a local worker to defect. Seoul had wanted a second round of talks on Friday in a bid to persuade the North to free the man. Pyongyang rejected this. In its statement Friday the North accused South Korea of driving contacts in Kaesong to the brink of collapse by bringing up the "irrelevant" issue of the detention. More than 38,000 North Koreans work at 101 South Korean firms, producing items such as garments, kitchenware and watches. They are paid around 75 dollars a month, including insurance, but the money goes directly to the North's state bodies, which return a portion to the workers. Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Sign in to recommend this article » 0 users recommend Related Articles: Asia Pacific Swine flu cases soar again as more countries hitAFP - Sunday, May 17 Japan's opposition party elects new chiefAFP - Sunday, May 17 Troops take last Tiger coastline: SLanka militaryAFP - Saturday, May 16 Congress sweeps to victory in India electionAFP - Sunday, May 17 First suspected domestic infection reported in JapanAFP - Saturday, May 16 Enlarge Photo NKorea scraps contracts with SKorean firms in joint zone Most Popular – Asia Pacific Viewed Popular cereal is a drug, US food watchdog says Coral Triangle could die by century's end: WWF British store admits it boobed in bra row Australian zoo evacuated after orangutan escape EU fines Intel record 1.06 billion euros View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. Reg. 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