The two Koreas have failed to come to terms over the minimum wage at the Gaeseong Industrial Complex.
 
The joint committee managing the complex met in Gaeseong, North Korea on Thursday but walked away without an agreement on the wages of North Korean workers employed at the inter-Korean park.
 
The South Korean delegation is said to have conveyed during the meeting that the North's unilateral wage hike went against a previous agreement that the two sides would operate the industrial park through consultations.
 
The North, however, is believed to have repeated claims that raising the minimum wage was its sovereign right.
 
Unification Ministry official and head of the South Korean delegation Lee Sang-min said at a press conference following the talks that the North Korean side lacked sincerity.
 
Noting that the North continued to adhere to its existing position on the wage dispute, Lee said his counterparts also avoided specific discussions on normalizing operations at the industrial park.
 
He said he proposed a subsequent meeting as soon as possible, but the two sides also failed to agree on a schedule as North Korea said it wouldn’t be meaningful unless the South acquiesced to its wage demands.
 
The latest rounds of talks were the sixth of the inter-Korean committee, coming more than a year after the previous round.