Tripartite commission votes down sector-specific minimum wage proposal

The Minimum Wage Commission, with nine representatives each from labor unions, management and the public, holds its seventh plenary session at the Government Complex Sejong, Tuesday. Yonhap

The same minimum wage will continue to be set across all industries in Korea next year after a proposal to implement sector-specific minimum wages was voted down during a plenary session of the tripartite commission, Tuesday.

The 27-member Minimum Wage Commission, consisting of nine representatives each from labor unions, management, and the public, voted on the proposal advocated by the management side. In the vote, 15 members opposed the proposal, while 11 supported it, with one invalid vote cast.

The vote was part of the commission’s process to set the 2025 minimum wage, as it began its annual deliberations on May 21.

Differentiated minimum wages were implemented only once in Korea, in 1988. But since then, the measure has not been upheld and the equal minimum wage has continued in all sectors for the following 36 years.

The management side has proposed differentiated minimum wages, arguing for lower pay specifically for micro-businesses such as restaurants, taxi services, and convenience stores. They cite economic challenges faced by small business owners and the self-employed as the rationale behind their proposal.

The labor sector fiercely opposed the measure, arguing that it constitutes socio-economic discrimination and undermines the purpose of the minimum wage system, which aims to ensure that workers receive a minimum amount of money necessary for living.

While labor and management representatives have clashed over the issue, the commission once again failed to meet the legal deadline to determine the 2025 minimum wage, which was last Thursday.

As the proposal was voted down, the commission will now move on to another point of focus — whether the minimum wage will surpass 10,000 won ($7.2) per hour for the first time in Korea.