[Exclusive] Minimum Wage Commission Ends First Working-Level Talks With No Results... Plenary Meeting Schedule Still Unset

First Preliminary Meeting Held on April 9 Led by Working-Level Representatives
Difficulties in Setting Agenda for Contract-Based Workers

The first working-level meeting of the Minimum Wage Commission (MWC) to review next year's minimum wage ended without any tangible results. The commission was unable to even finalize the schedule for the first plenary session, indicating that the review process is facing difficulties from the outset this year.

According to a summary of reporting by The Asia Business Daily on April 13, the MWC held a working-level meeting on April 9 at an undisclosed location in Seoul, with research members and the secretariat from both labor and management sides participating. The agenda was to coordinate the schedule and topics for the upcoming plenary session, but no agreement was reached. These working-level meetings serve as preliminary discussions where the management side, represented by the Korea Employers Federation and the Korea Federation of SMEs, and the labor side, represented by the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, gather to coordinate the plenary session schedule.

Under the structure of the MWC, once the research members—who are working-level representatives—coordinate the schedule and basic agenda, the commission officially begins deliberating the minimum wage through the plenary session. However, since consensus was not reached even at the working level, it is inevitable that the subsequent discussions will also face delays.

In fact, a representative from the management side stated, "At the working-level meeting, several dates were discussed, but since the schedules did not align, a conclusion could not be reached." A representative from the MWC secretariat also explained, "The research members, who are the working-level staff from each organization, gathered to discuss the schedule for the plenary session. However, no date has been set yet, and discussions are ongoing."

The establishment of the agenda is not fundamentally addressed at this stage of working-level discussions and is expected to be decided at the upcoming plenary session. However, as the schedule for the plenary session itself is delayed, there are concerns that agenda discussions will also be postponed.

In particular, whether to apply the minimum wage to subcontracted workers is expected to be a core issue. Previously, Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon requested the MWC to review whether a separate minimum wage should be applied to subcontracted workers. The subcontracting system calculates wages based on output or work units rather than working hours, so there have been calls for a different approach compared to the current hourly minimum wage system.

Participants hold signs at the "Platform Workers' Minimum Wage Struggle Declaration Press Conference" held by the Korea Public Service and Transport Workers' Union of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions near the Blue House in Jongno-gu, Seoul on March 30, 2026. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

The MWC secretariat emphasized that, considering the statutory deadline for deliberations, it is necessary to finalize the schedule as soon as possible. According to the Minimum Wage Act, the commission must complete its review within 90 days of receiving the deliberation request from the Minister of Employment and Labor. This year, in addition to the wage increase rate, additional topics such as the possibility of differentiated application by region and industry, and the expansion of coverage to platform and specially employed workers, have made the discussions even more complex. In particular, the government estimates that the number of specially employed and platform workers not currently protected under labor law is around 1.4 million, making related deliberations urgent.

The delay in the plenary session schedule is also causing a postponement in electing a new commission chair, as the position is currently vacant. The chair of the Minimum Wage Commission is selected from among the public interest members during the plenary session. The chair presides over meetings of the commission, which deliberates and decides on key minimum wage issues, and plays a role in mediating and facilitating agreements between labor and management. The previous chair, Lee In-jae, resigned after being appointed as president of Incheon National University.

Currently, Park Kwichun, a professor at Ewha Womans University, has been newly appointed as a public interest member. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions has replaced Jeon Ji-hyun, the head of the Korea Care Workers' Union, with Park Junghoon, Deputy Chair of the Korean Public Service and Transport Workers' Union. The Korea Federation of SMEs also appointed Yang Okseok, the current head of the Human Resources Policy Division, replacing former head Lee Myung-ro. An MWC representative stated, "With the addition of extra topics this year, the discussions are likely to become multi-layered and complicated," and added, "We need to hold the first plenary session as soon as possible."

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