Korean major labor groups demand 25% hike in minimum wage for 2024

Park Hee-eun, vice president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, announces on Apr. 4. [Photo by Lee Chung-woo]

South Korea’s two largest labor groups - the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) - on Tuesday demanded a minimum wage of 12,000 won ($9.14) per hour for next year, a nearly 25 percent increase from this year.

The minimum wage for 2023 is 9,620 won. It is set to top 10,000 won for the first time if the rise exceeds 3.95 percent.

With the labor circle proposing a 24.74 percent increase, the highest hike since the minimum wage negotiations in 2015, a heated debate is anticipated at the first plenary meeting of the Minimum Wage Commission that will take place on April 18.

“A demand for a wage hike is imperative amid the current environment of an economic crisis and high inflation,” said Park Hee-eun, vice president of the KCTU on Tuesday. “The minimum wage must be raised significantly to address issues of social polarization, low-wage labor, and gender wage gap.”

A worker’s monthly salary comes to 2.01 million won for 209 hours of work based on the current minimum wage. It goes up to 2.51 million won next year if the wage increase demand is accepted.

The minimum wage in Korea stands at a high level when compared with other major countries. It has increased by 41.6 percent over the past six years including the five years under the Moon Jae-in administration. The minimum wage was 6,470 won per hour in 2017 when Moon took office.

The minimum wage ratio against the median wage is 62.2 percent, which is higher than those of France, Japan, and the U.S.

Employers and self-employed businesses, in the meantime, oppose the sharp wage hike, saying that the increase will lead to fewer jobs.

The labor unions, in the meantime, are against the government and industry idea to introduce a different rate hike for different sectors, saying that it is “contrary to the purpose of the Minimum Wage Act.”

The minimum wage plan for next year must be finalized by June 29 but the deadline has been met only eight times since the inception of the minimum wage scheme in 1988. The big differences over the increase rate and differentiated application by sector are likely to be the cause for intense conflict this year.