S. Korea's minimum hourly wage to rise for 2014

A trilateral council of government, labor and management representatives agreed Friday to raise the country's minimum wage for next year by 7.2 percent to 5,210 won (US$4.57) per hour.

The Minimum Wage Council reached the deal in a 15-0 vote with nine abstentions at the end of overnight negotiations, the council said.

Under the agreement, the monthly salary of those who work 40 hours a week will rise to 1.08 million won, the council said, adding that the increase is expected to benefit roughly 2.56 million workers in the country struggling with low income.

Initially, the labor circle demanded a 21.6 percent increase from this year's hourly wage of 4,860 won, while the management proposed a freeze.

"The 7.2 percent increase takes into account diverse factors such as the real-term economic growth rate and inflation," said the council chief Park Jun-seong.

"In accordance with our policy goals of reducing the income gap among workers over the next five years, we reflect the relevant increase in next year's minimum wage," he added.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor is scheduled to fix the minimum wage by Aug. 5 after announcing details of the agreement next week.(Yonhap) --