Unpaid Wages Surge 51% in Three Years... Direct Blow to the Working-Class Economy

8 Out of 10 Victims Work at Businesses With Fewer Than 30 Employees
"Large Conglomerate-Focused Policies of the Yoon Suk-yeol Administration Are the Cause"
Jinwook Jung: "Need for Consumption Coupon Measures Ironically Proven"

Jinwook Jung, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

Over the past three years, the amount of unpaid wages has surged by 51%, with workers at small-scale businesses suffering the most severe hardships.

On October 21, Jinwook Jung, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (representing Gwangju Dongnam-gap), analyzed data submitted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor titled "Status of Unpaid Wages by Business Size Over the Past Three Years." The analysis revealed that unpaid wages increased from 1.3472 trillion won in 2022 to 1.7845 trillion won in 2023, and soared to 2.0448 trillion won in 2024, marking a 51.7% rise over three years.

Regarding this, Assemblyman Jung stated, "This is the result of the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's large conglomerate-focused policies neglecting the livelihoods of ordinary people, leading to worsening management difficulties for small business owners and SMEs, and directly impacting the working-class economy."

In particular, more than 80% of unpaid wage victims are concentrated among workers at small businesses with fewer than 30 employees, indicating that the suffering of vulnerable groups has intensified. The proportion of unpaid wage cases at businesses with fewer than 30 employees was 81.1% in 2022, 83.6% in 2023, and 80.5% in 2024.

Assemblyman Jung pointed out that the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's top policy priority of "full recovery for small business owners" has, in reality, resulted in the "collapse of small businesses," criticizing the lack of tailored measures for small enterprises.

Even more concerning is the fact that, in the first half of this year (through June), the amount of unpaid wages has already reached 1.1005 trillion won, surpassing half of last year's total. Assemblyman Jung assessed that this ironically demonstrates the urgent need for emergency measures for the working-class economy, such as the "Livelihood Recovery Consumption Coupon" promoted by the Lee Jae-myung administration.

Assemblyman Jung emphasized, "Despite the annual increase in unpaid wages and the fact that over 70-80% of the damage occurs at small businesses with fewer than 30 employees, the Yoon Suk-yeol administration has consistently pursued conglomerate-focused policies while neglecting tailored measures for small enterprises." He urged, "The Ministry of SMEs and Startups and the Ministry of Employment and Labor must work closely together to urgently establish proactive management and support measures for small businesses with fewer than 30 employees."

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