Convenience Store Owners Association: "Minimum Wage Increase Leads to Closures... Weekly Holiday Allowance Must Be Abolished"

Representatives of the Korea Convenience Store Owners Association are holding a press conference urging a reduction in the minimum wage on the 2nd at the Korea Federation of SMEs in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] The Korea Convenience Store Owners Association has stated that it "cannot accept the minimum wage decision that does not consider the reality faced by small business owners" regarding next year's minimum wage increase decision.

In a statement on the 14th, the association said, "Small business owners, including convenience stores, have been closing down one after another due to the rapid minimum wage increases and the impact of COVID-19," adding, "The association earnestly urged a reduction in the minimum wage."

Furthermore, the association claimed, "Convenience store owners have endured long working hours of 70 to 80 hours per week, and in some cases over 100 hours," and "The harsh labor compensation does not even reach 1 million KRW per month."

According to the association, if an owner works 50 hours per week, the average profit of a convenience store decreased by 9.38% from 989,600 KRW to 896,800 KRW due to the minimum wage increase.

Regarding this, the association pointed out, "Owners who have reached the limit of increasing working hours have no choice but to close their businesses," and "Short-term jobs for vulnerable groups such as youth and job seekers will inevitably decrease further. This is a foreseen sequence."

The association proposed measures for small business owners and vulnerable workers, including ▲ expanding the recognized hours for weekly holiday pay for small businesses with fewer than five employees and eventually abolishing weekly holiday pay ▲ differentiating minimum wage by industry and business size ▲ deferring enrollment in the four major social insurances for ultra-short-term workers under three months or providing government support.

Meanwhile, next year's minimum wage was decided at 8,720 KRW, a 1.5% increase from this year. The 1.5% increase rate for next year's minimum wage is the lowest since the minimum wage system was first implemented in 1988.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.