韩朝就开城工业园区工薪问题举行会谈

North and South Korea officials hold talks Thursday aimed at resolving a protracted wage dispute at a jointly run factory complex.

A South Korean delegation left early Thursday for the Kaesong Industrial Complex, which lies on the North Korean side of the countries' tense border.

Lee Sang-min, head of the Seoul delegation, said it will be the first meeting since June for the joint commission in charge of running the complex.

The two sides have been mired in a months-long dispute over the North's unilateral move to raise the minimum monthly wage for its workers at the complex from $70.35 to $74.00, starting in March.

South Korea insists that any wage change must be determined through mutual agreement.

More than 53,000 North Korean workers are employed by about 120 South Korean factories in the park, which opened in 2004 and is one of

the few areas of North-South economic cooperation.