Oh Se-hoon: "If Minimum Wage Applies to Foreign Helpers, It Will Be a 'Pie in the Sky' for Middle and Low-Income Groups"

"Costs Over 2 Million Won Per Month Are a Barrier"
"Making a Cane Out of Cast Iron Is Useless"

On June 6, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon expressed agreement with the proposal not to apply the minimum wage to foreign helpers and stated that the 'cost barrier' must be removed.

Mayor Oh wrote on Facebook that "the government and Seoul City are cooperating to launch a pilot project for foreign domestic helpers starting this year, but ultimately the cost is a barrier," adding, "If the current plan applies the minimum wage to foreigners as well, exceeding 2 million won per month, it will become an unattainable 'pie in the sky' for most middle- and low-income households."

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is taking photos at the '2024 F/W Seoul Fashion Week' held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 1st. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

This reflects his agreement with the report presented the previous day at a labor market seminar by the Bank of Korea and KDI. Mayor Oh noted, "(At the seminar) the reality was pointed out that caregiving helpers cost 3.7 million won per month and childcare helpers cost 2.64 million won per month, and cases such as Singapore and Hong Kong, where the minimum wage is not applied to foreign domestic helpers, were also introduced," adding, "The fact that the cautious Bank of Korea expressed such an opinion indicates the urgency of the situation."

He further emphasized, "Beyond the simple issue of employing helpers, if one cannot work due to childcare or caregiving responsibilities or has to spend excessively high costs, the entire family can fall into a pit of unhappiness."

Mayor Oh also likened the high cost of foreign care helpers to an 'iron cane.' He said, "A cane is only meaningful if it is easy to carry; making a cane out of iron is useless," and argued, "We must not repeat the folly of past non-regular worker laws and the three lease laws that ignored market mechanisms and pursued ideals, which instead tightened the noose on low-income groups."

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