New members appointed for minimum wage negotiations

By Kim Jae-heun

The government has appointed 25 new members to the Minimum Wage Commission, according to the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

The commission will begin discussing the country's minimum wage for 2019 this week.

The commission consists of representatives from the labor, management and public sectors.

There are a total of 26 members. One representative from the public sector will continue his term as he was appointed in January this year. All other members serve three-year terms.

“We have included one new representative from the Youth Community Union to speak on behalf of young employees and two representatives from the Korean Federation of Micro Enterprises,” a ministry official said.

The Korean Federation of Micro Enterprise has been arguing for a different minimum wage for different industries and regions.

The commission is expected to study and prepare data in advance before negotiating the 2019 minimum wage.

President Moon Jae-in has pledged to raise the minimum wage up to 10,000 won within his term.

The commission has to raise the minimum wage by about 15 to 16 percent again next year to meet this target.