Labor and Management Clash Over Next Year's Minimum Wage: 12,000 Won vs. Freeze

Labor and management have shown a significant gap regarding next year's minimum wage, with labor representatives proposing an initial hourly rate of 12,000 won—a 16.3% increase from this year's 10,320 won—while the business sector has demanded a freeze.

The Minimum Wage Commission held its 8th plenary session at the Government Complex Sejong today (June 23) and began discussions on the minimum wage increase for next year.

The labor side argued that the current minimum wage is insufficient to support the livelihoods of worker households, presenting an initial demand of 12,000 won per hour, or 2,508,000 won per month (based on 209 working hours).

On the other hand, the business sector stated that small and medium-sized enterprises and small business owners have already reached their limits, and proposed an initial demand to freeze the wage at this year's level of 10,320 won.

The difference between the initial proposals from labor and management stands at 1,680 won.

Moving forward, both sides plan to narrow the gap through a series of additional meetings and revised proposals.

During last year's deliberations, labor and management presented up to 10 revised proposals each to narrow the difference in the increase rate, eventually reaching an agreement to determine the 2026 minimum wage.

The legal deadline for the Minimum Wage Commission's deliberation is June 29, which is 90 days after receiving the request for deliberation from the Minister of Employment and Labor.

Even if the final deadline passes, the commission must submit the minimum wage proposal to the Minister of Employment and Labor by mid-July, considering the remaining administrative procedures.

Following this, the Minister of Employment and Labor must finalize and announce the minimum wage by August 5.

The new minimum wage will take effect starting January 1 of next year.

Looking at the minimum wage (hourly rate) and the year-on-year increase rate over the past five years: 9,160 won (5.05%) in 2022, 9,620 won (5.0%) in 2023, 9,860 won (2.5%) in 2024, 10,030 won (1.7%) in 2025, and 10,320 won (2.9%) in 2026.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.