SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Yonhap) -- A major North Korean magazine has unusually highlighted the importance of wage hikes, a sign which could indicate an impending wage increase as part of a reformist drive in the teetering economy.

   "Under a socialist system, prices of mass consumption products and services are set to match the labor income level of workers," North Korea's quarterly magazine Economy Research said in its second publication for this year, obtained by Yonhap News Agency.

   "Socialism's labor wage system can only become effective when wages are (high) enough to guarantee citizens' materialistic living standards and the prices of goods and services are regulated to the level (high) enough to push up the quality of the components (of the goods and services)," the magazine said.

   The magazine's emphasis on wage levels is widely interpreted as a call for wage hikes in the communist country, where dire inflation of the price of rice and other necessities is battering the economy and citizens.

   Average North Korean workers are reported to take home about 3,000 North Korean won every month while one kilogram of rice, the staple of North Koreans, costs 5,000 won.

   Wage hikes are reportedly one part of the North's ongoing reformist efforts, known as the "June 28 new economy management system," and which is believed to also include ditching the rationing system.

   Seoul's National Intelligence Service has also said recently the North is seeking to raise wages as part of its economic management reform.

   In its previous reformist efforts in 2002, the North hiked wages and rice prices to match market levels, but severe inflation, stemming from increased currency flows, caused the reform to fail.

   "The magazine article heralds a wage hike by highlighting the importance of adjusting wages to levels matchable to living expenses," said Lee Yong-hoon, an analyst at SK Research Institute.

   Given recent news reports about the June 28 reform, the North could initiate the reform drive as early as the second half of this year, Lee said.

   pbr@yna.co.kr
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