Candidate Kim Jaeyeon, Mandates 'Equal Pay Transparency System' for Private Companies as Well

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Kim Jae-yeon, the Progressive Party's presidential candidate, announced on the 10th that she will make the 'gender-equal wage disclosure system' mandatory not only for public institutions but also for private companies.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On this day, Candidate Kim held a press conference at the Progressive Party conference room in Jongno-gu, Seoul, proposing 'Pay Me Too' and announced the gender-equal wage disclosure system as her second pledge.

Candidate Kim criticized, "The poor working conditions and low wages of women have blocked women's social advancement and deepened gender inequality. Women are systematically discriminated against from the moment they enter the labor market due to a preference for male applicants, and the reality of the 'glass ceiling' where women cannot enter senior management positions is reflected in the fact that the proportion of female executives in listed companies is only 5.2%."

She also pointed out that occupational segregation by gender is a factor in the wage gap, stating, "The excessive undervaluation of occupations concentrated with women, especially care and domestic service labor, which is mainly performed by women re-entering the workforce after employment breaks, is treated as typical low-wage labor. The mistaken perception that care work does not require 'skill' and is naturally acquired by women raising children and doing housework has supported the low-wage system."

She emphasized that since care is regarded as a public service, national-level efforts are essential for the social revaluation of care labor.

Candidate Kim proposed the gender-equal wage disclosure system including ▲mandatory application not only to public institutions but also to private companies ▲implementation of 'gender equality indicators' evaluation starting with companies of 100 or more employees, with companies failing to meet the standard score fined '1% of total wages' ▲promotion of wage increases for female-concentrated occupations with 'appropriate care wages' ▲establishment of a specialized committee to address employment discrimination.

Along with this, Candidate Kim stated that to eliminate the gender wage gap, she will start the 'Pay Me Too movement' together with women in their 20s and 30s starting their careers, women working in female-concentrated occupations, and middle-aged women who have experienced employment breaks, and will take to the streets on International Women's Day, March 8.

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