‘Busan City Living Wage’ Set at 11,074 KRW per Hour Next Year... Targeting About 2,000 City and Public Institution Workers

Busan City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Busan's living wage for next year has been set at 11,074 KRW per hour.

Busan City announced on the 8th that reflecting the average annual wage increase rate of public officials over the past five years, the living wage will be raised by 206 KRW (1.9%) from this year's 10,868 KRW to next year's rate.

The living wage is a real wage determined by considering the average household expenditure level of workers and the minimum wage, ensuring that workers can maintain a humane and cultural life above the minimum wage.

The applicable subjects are about 2,000 workers including those employed by Busan City, indefinite-term and fixed-term workers at public institutions under the city, and workers performing privately consigned tasks (city-funded).

The Busan City Living Wage Committee held a meeting on the 7th to deliberate on the "2023 Busan City Living Wage." The committee comprehensively reviewed Busan City's inflation rate, next year's minimum wage (9,620 KRW per hour), and the median income of three-person households nationwide.

Considering that the main subjects of the living wage system are workers in the public sector such as the city and public institutions, the committee applied the average annual wage increase rate of public officials over the past five years, which is 1.9%.

This rate is higher than the average annual inflation rate of Busan City over the past five years, which was 1.6%, and corresponds to 52.19% of the median income of urban three-person households, which is higher than Busan City's average household size of 2.2 persons (OECD poverty line is 50%). It is also 1,454 KRW higher than next year's minimum wage (equivalent to 303,886 KRW monthly).

As of September, among the 17 cities and provinces nationwide, only three have decided on the 2023 living wage: Incheon (11,123 KRW), Chungnam (10,840 KRW), and Sejong (10,866 KRW).

Park Hyung-jun, Mayor of Busan, said, "We had intense discussions to set an appropriate living wage standard so that people can enjoy a better life," and added, "We will think more for a Busan where labor is respected."

The 2023 living wage will be applied from January 1 next year, and Busan City plans to announce the applicable subjects and the decided amount within September.

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