Wage Disparity
The annual salary of non-regular workers in Korea was 64.2 percent of their full-time counterparts in 2013. The speed at which the gap narrows has decreased significantly last year, though it is still narrowing.
The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced on April 28 that temporary and regular workers’ total wages per hour were 11,259 won (US$10.91) and 17,524 won (US$16.96) as of June last year, respectively.
The ratio of the former to the latter increased for four years in a row, from 57.2 percent in 2010 to 61.3 percent, 63.6 percent, and 64.2 percent in subsequent years. By gender, the ratio fell 0.7 percentage points to 65.0 percent for males and 0.8 percentage points to 73.9 percent for females.
The combined average hourly wage increased 7.3 percent last year to 16,067 won. The rate of increase was 6.8 percent for full-time workers and 7.9 percent for temporary.