Hopes are moderate at the prospect of actually making a profit in the Kaesong Industrial Complex after years of investing in previously non-existent infrastructure. A survey by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business found:

…that among the 24 companies, just five companies recorded a profit for the first time in 3 years… Currently, the remaining 19 companies (80%) are still seeing a loss and considering the technical learning ability of the North Korea laborers and low productivity of companies, it is too early to be optimistic of the Kaesung Industrial Complex businesses.

The Daily NK article goes on to note the problems with the Kaesong venture that, in my opinion, indicate hope for large profits are misplaced, aside from the issue of where the North Korean share of profits go (Kim Jong-il).

North Korean workers at Kaesong will receive a five percent pay raise, a compromise after a 15 percent raise was demanded by the North Korean government with the threat of a strike (ironic since North Korean’s don’t have the right to strike):

The new pay rate guarantees the zone’s 15,000 North Korean workers a minimum wage of $52.50 per month - a tiny fraction of what South Korean laborers receive.

The five percent increase is a compromise with the North, which announced several weeks ago that the Kaesong workers would “go on strike” if their pay was not boosted by 15 percent.

[. . .]

Wages do not go directly to the workers, but to the North Korean government. Pyongyang says it deducts about 10 percent for what it describes as a social welfare fund, and pays most of the rest in the form of food and other goods.

How much actual cash the workers end up receiving is unclear. What is certain is the form in which they receive it: North Korean won, at Pyongyang’s official exchange rate of 151 to the dollar.

Workers also get shafted in the exchange rate of 151 Won to the dollar as the black market rate is closer to 2,500.

Finally, China is crashing South Korea’s cheap labor party at Kaesong:

Two small Chinese light-industry companies have applied to build factories in a South Korean-invested industrial complex in North Korea, a South Korean state land developer said Saturday.

[. . .]

It is the first time that foreign companies have applied to build plants at the complex where 26 South Korean labor-intensive companies are currently operating with a total North Korean workforce of 15,000.

The article does not mention it, but I am sure there will be resistance to allowing China in on the Kaesong boondoggle, unless South Korean politicians are too spineless.