Minimum Wage Set At 474,600 Won Per Month

The minimum wage, which will be applied beginning September for one year, was set at 2,100 won per an hour (474,600 won per month). It is a 12.6 percent increase compared with last year`s minimum wage of 1,865 won

The Minimum Wage Council (chairperson Kim Soo-Gon), composed of 9 members each from the labor, the management, and the public sector, yesterday voted and agreed to accept the labor unions` proposal of the minimum wage of 2,100 won per hour instead of the management groups` proposal of 2,060 won.

Prior to this, the labor unions demanded 2,837 won per hour, while 1,930 won was insisted by the management groups. The Ministry of Labor said, ``The newly set minimum wage is lower than the amount demanded by the labor unions. However, considering the increase of the labor productivity rate (7.3 percent), the nominal wage rate (7.5 percent), and the agreement wage rate (5.7 percent), the workers` opinion is fairly well taken into consideration.``

Moreover, due to the increase in the minimum wage, 2.8 percent of the total workforce, that is, about 201,000 workers, will benefit from the new adjustment. If the irregular workers are included, the number of beneficiaries is actually a lot higher.

The newly set minimum wage will be announced by August 5 through 10 day-adjustment period in which the labor and the management groups can make an objection to the decision.

yongari@donga.com