SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's Unification Ministry said on Friday that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) withdrew its demand for substantial wage rises at joint Kaesong industrial park.

    The DPRK side on Thursday notified the South Korea's management office in a letter that it will accept a 5 percent rise on wages for the DPRK workers at the Kaesong complex as per the original agreement, and hoped to sign the deal with Seoul as early as possible, Unification Ministry spokeswoman Lee Jong-joo told media Friday.

    "There was no mention about the 300 U.S. dollar proposal" in Thursday's letter, Lee said

    It means the DPRK drew back its demand for quadrupling the minimum monthly wages for the DPRK workers to about 300 U.S. dollars, which has been put forward in the second round of talks on Kaesong park issue between Seoul and Pyongyang held in June.

    Currently South Korean enterprises at the park pay 70-80 dollars to every DPRK worker per month, including about 55 dollars minimum wage and other benefits such as social insurance. Under the latest proposal, the minimum monthly wages for DPRK workers will rise to near 58 U.S. dollars.

    The plan will apply to the period from Aug. 1, 2009 to July 31,2010. The South Korea's management office, after consultations with businesses operating in the park, is going to sign with the DPRK soon, according to the spokeswoman.

    However, the DPRK's new proposal made no mention about the land rent, another controversial issue between the two sides.

    Also in June, the DPRK claimed to raise land rent to 500 million U.S. dollars, 31 times more than the current 16 million-U.S.-dollar fee, which was also rejected by Seoul as "unreasonable".

    The spokeswomen said that at present it cannot be considered that Pyongyang has completely abandoned its demands for substantial wage and land rent rises, because "upon our inquiry of whether the North (DPRK) is to withdraw its 300-U.S. dollar proposal, the country said it would like to make adjustments 'as-is.'"

    Echoed the spokeswomen, a government official on customary condition of anonymity that the DPRK's proposal can be seen as its hint that it withdrew the demands for substantial wage rises, but Seoul now cannot rule out the possibility that Pyongyang may rise the requirement again in the future, according to Yonhap News Agency.

    The Kaesong complex, where 109 South Korean companies operate with more than 40,000 DPRK workers, makes a variety of products, from electronics and watches to shoes and utensils.

    The park, located in the DPRK's border town of Kaesong, was jointly set up as a reconciliation project of the two sides.