[imText1]Human Rights Watch (HRW), a non-profit human rights organization, released a report, in which the NGO worried about the labor environment in the Kaesong Industrial Region, an inter-Korean cooperative economic zone in North Korea, that labor laws in the region did not ‘meet world standards’ and ‘if labor laws in Kaesong do not provide protection for the workers, labor abuse of the North Korean workers will be acquitted.’
The report is written based on South Korean unification ministry’s documents, interviews with South Korean businessmen in the Kaesong region and other reports on the Kaesong Industrial Region, HRW states.
In the HRW report, Kaesong region’s labor environment does not guarantee the freedom of association, the right to bargain collectively, protection of female workers from sexual abuse and prohibition of child labor. Also, the report pointed out that there are serious concerns over the ways wages are paid, how to compensate injured laborers, and the effectiveness of the labor regulations in the industrial region.
HRW categorically advises the South Korean government to allow ‘South Korean companies in Kaesong to pay the North Korean workers directly with cash’; currently, at request of North Korean authorities, South Korean investors are not paying the employees directly, but through the NK government.
Domestic and foreign North Korean specialists, including the U.S. special envoy on North Korean human rights Jay Lefkowitz, constantly noted Kaesong Industrial Region’s abuse of labor rights. The South Korean government, however, retorted by pointing out that the Kaesong region’s average wage was much higher than other regions in North Korea.
As international human rights organizations start to criticize Kaesong region’s labor environment and labor regulation, it is expected that the controversy over the inter-Korean industrial complex would be intense. And the South Korean government, which has been insisting on the recognition of Kaesong-made products as being South Korean in the Korean-American Free Trade Agreement negotiations, will be in a delicate situation.
In addition, the report argues that North Korea is ‘a member state of international human rights treaties, in which labor rights are assured,’ and, therefore, North Korea ‘must protect the laborers’ rights.’
Excerpts of the report are listed below.
– Indirect payment
Although the Kaesong Regional Labor Regulation article 3 elucidates that South Korean investors are to pay North Korean employees ‘directly,’ South Korean companies in Kaesong, due to demands from the NK authority, pay via the North Korean government.
North Korean workers receive 70 percent of the payment from their government; 30% is deducted as ‘social-cultural policy tax.’ Last year, Kaesong workers received 67.40 dollars per month on average. But the deducted wage was 42 dollars per month, which violated the Kaesong Regional Labor Regulation’s minimum wage of 50 dollars per month.
– No compensation in case of injury
It is stated in the labor regulations that if an injury occurs, the worker is compensated from the ‘social-cultural policy fund.’ However, it cannot be confirmed whether an employee is actually offered compensation and is paid during sick-leaves.
– No direct election of representatives among the workers in Kaesong
Kaesong’s labor regulation does not guarantee the freedom of association and the right to bargain collectively. North Korean workers must participate through negotiations with South Korean employers through directly-elected representatives in order to decide on wages and other employment conditions.
North Korea’s Foreign Investors Act guarantees the foreigner-owned companies’ employees the right to organize and to negotiate. However, this law neither protects employees from employers’ violation of labor rights nor permits workers to request sincere negotiations with their bosses.
– Insertion of prohibition of sexual abuse in workplaces
North Korean labor laws do not clearly proscribe sexual harassment in the workplace. Nor do the Kaesong labor regulations deal with such sexual abuses. The regulations must be revised to prohibit sexual harassment in the workplace.
And if the revised regulation is violated, both the sexual offender and employer should be punished. Employees, especially female workers, need to receive sexual education and be informed about how to report and deal with such sexual harassments.
– North Korea must become a member of the International Labor Organization
To change the Kaesong labor regulation in accordance with international standards and to actually enforce the regulation, North Korea must join the ILO and subsequent treaties, and allow ILO officials into North Korea.
