Ministry of Employment Clears 116.7 Billion KRW in Unpaid Wages During Lunar New Year... Largest Ever Amount

Lee Jeong-sik, Minister of Employment and Labor.

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The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on the 25th that during the four-week intensive wage arrears guidance period operated ahead of this year's Lunar New Year holiday, it cleared wage arrears amounting to 116.7 billion KRW for 17,908 workers. This is more than double the 57 billion KRW cleared ahead of last year's Lunar New Year and represents the largest scale ever.

This intensive guidance was carried out in collaboration with related ministries such as the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Financial Services Commission, focusing mainly on the construction industry, where wage arrears have surged.

Last year's total wage arrears amounted to 1.7845 trillion KRW, a record high representing a 32.5% increase compared to the previous year, with wage arrears in the construction industry (436.3 billion KRW) increasing by nearly 50% year-on-year.

Accordingly, heads of local employment and labor offices and labor inspectors conducted on-site guidance at 600 private construction sites nationwide. The wage arrears clearance task force was dispatched a total of 248 times.

In particular, inspections of 105 construction sites operated by Taeyoung Construction, which entered workout, resulted in the clearance of 6.3 billion KRW in wage arrears.

At the Daegu Dong-gu site, where construction had been halted due to wage arrears by Taeyoung Construction’s subcontractors, wages amounting to 1.1 billion KRW for about 390 workers were paid at the end of January, allowing construction to resume. The Ministry of Employment and Labor also stated that overdue wages for November and December at the Jungnang-gu site in Seoul were fully paid before the Lunar New Year.

During this intensive guidance period, living stabilization support totaling 76.5 billion KRW was also provided to 13,658 workers suffering from wage arrears.

Specifically, payment processing periods were temporarily shortened for 12,918 workers, providing advance payments amounting to 71.2 billion KRW. Additionally, 441 workers received living expense loans at a temporarily reduced interest rate (from 1.5% to 1.0% per annum). Furthermore, using the wage arrears employer loan system, 1.9 billion KRW was provided to 299 workers.

Lee Jung-sik, Minister of Employment and Labor, stated, "We will maintain a zero-tolerance principle and respond strictly to wage arrears on site, while actively promoting economic sanctions and other measures to create a structure where the losses from wage arrears far outweigh the gains."

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