Siheung Sets Next Year’s Living Wage at 11,860 Won, Up 2.9% from This Year

15% Higher Than the Minimum Wage
Applies to City Employees and Workers at City-Funded and City-Invested Institutions

On September 16, the city of Siheung in Gyeonggi Province announced that it had convened the Living Wage Review Committee and set next year’s living wage rate at 11,860 won per hour. This represents a 2.5% increase compared to this year.

The living wage is set higher than the minimum wage to ensure that workers can maintain a basic standard of human dignity and cultural life. The newly determined living wage is 15% higher than next year’s minimum wage, which is 10,320 won per hour.

The living wage applies to city employees and workers at city-funded or city-invested institutions who are not subject to the public servant salary regulations. Approximately 1,000 people are eligible. However, workers who already receive more than the living wage, or those hired temporarily for public work projects, are excluded from eligibility.

The city explained that this year’s living wage was established after a comprehensive review of factors such as the minimum wage increase rate and the Bank of Korea’s consumer price inflation rate.

With the living wage applied, next year’s monthly salary per person will be 2,478,740 won, an increase of 68,970 won compared to this year’s monthly salary of 2,409,770 won. This is 321,860 won higher than the monthly minimum wage for next year, which is 2,156,880 won (based on 209 working hours per month).

Siheung Mayor Lim Byungtaek stated, "We expect that this increase in the living wage will have a positive effect on workers’ stable livelihoods, quality of life, and the revitalization of the local economy," adding, "We will continue to explore various measures to further improve working conditions."

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