Next year, the minimum wage will continue to be applied uniformly across all industries.
The Minimum Wage Commission held its 7th plenary meeting at the Government Sejong Center on June 18 to vote on whether to implement different minimum wages for various industries.
The vote resulted in 14 votes against, 11 in favor, and 1 invalid vote, failing to secure a majority from the attending members.
A total of 26 members participated in the vote, including 8 of the 9 worker representatives, 9 employer representatives, and 9 public interest representatives.
Previously, the employer side argued that industries such as hospitality and food service, which are severely impacted by economic downturns, should have lower minimum wages compared to other sectors.
In contrast, the worker representatives opposed this, stating that applying lower minimum wages to specific industries would institutionalize discrimination against workers.
The issue of differential minimum wage application has been a contentious topic between labor and management each year, but it has not progressed to actual implementation. Notably, while legally permissible, differential application was only temporarily applied in the first year of the system in 1988.
Since then, due to backlash from labor groups, a single minimum wage system has been maintained since 1989.
With the failure of this vote, the current system of applying the same minimum wage across all sectors will continue for the 38th consecutive year.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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