SEOUL, June 11 (RIA Novosti) - North Korea has demanded that South Korean companies raise wages for North Korean workers from $70-80 to $300 per month at the Kaesong industrial park to the north of the border, Yonhap news agency reported on Thursday.

Speaking after inter-Korean talks, South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said Pyongyang had also raised leasing rates at the complex, the last remaining joint project between the countries.

During the talks, South Korean officials urged for the release of a Hyundai Asan Corp. worker who was arrested in Kaesong in March for criticizing the Kim Jong-il's regime. However, North Korean officials at the meeting refused to discuss the issue, Chun said.

More than 100 South Korean companies operate and 40,000 North Koreans are employed at the Kaesong complex, located about an hour's drive from Seoul.

Most of the companies manufacture clothing, household appliances and electronic equipment.