The first minimum wage under the Lee Jae-myung government has been set at 10,320 won per hour as of the 10th. This is a 2.9% increase from this year's minimum wage per hour.
The Minimum Wage Commission announced that "next year's minimum wage has been set at 10,320 won per hour."
Minimum wage deliberations are conducted by narrowing the gaps after both labor and management present their initial proposals. The initial gap between the minimum wage demands from both sides was 1,470 won. On June 19, the worker's side proposed an increase of 14.7% to 11,500 won, while the management side proposed a freeze at 10,030 won.
Afterward, both sides submitted revised proposals to narrow the gap. They started with a gap of 1,440 won in the first revision, followed by 1,390 won (second revision), 1,270 won (third revision), 1,150 won (fourth revision), 1,010 won (fifth revision), 870 won (sixth revision), 830 won (seventh revision), and finally 720 won (eighth revision), consistently reducing the gap.
However, after the eighth revision, the gap was not easily narrowed. In response, the public interest members of the Commission suggested a range for revisions between 10,210 won (a 1.4% increase) and 10,440 won (a 4.1% increase). This revision facilitation range is introduced when public interest members determine that further negotiations between labor and management are challenging.
Subsequently, on that day, labor and management narrowed the gap to 220 won through the ninth revision and reduced it to 200 won in the tenth revision. During this process, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) stated they could not accept the revision facilitation range and exited the negotiations. Lee Mi-sun, a worker commissioner and KCTU vice chair, remarked, "We repeatedly requested the withdrawal of the revision facilitation range, but it was not accepted."
Despite the KCTU's exit, labor and management continued the meeting that day. The Minimum Wage Commission is composed of 27 members, including nine each from labor, management, and public interest. Twenty-three members, excluding the four KCTU members who exited, continued the minimum wage deliberations. According to the Minimum Wage Act, resolutions can be made with a majority of the registered commissioners present and an affirmative vote from the majority of the attending commissioners. Additionally, at least one-third from both the labor and management sides must be present for the resolutions. There were five labor representatives remaining to meet this requirement.
As a result, labor and management reached a consensus on the minimum wage for the first time in 17 years since 2008.
The minimum wage of 10,320 won per hour, decided that day, translates to a monthly salary of 2,156,880 won. This is based on an 8-hour workday over five days a week. It includes the weekly holiday allowance, which is given to workers who work more than 15 hours a week, compensating them as if they had worked a day without working over the weekend.