South Korea’s two largest labor groups — the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) — on Tuesday demanded a 25% minimum wage hike for next year. They demanded that the minimum hourly wage be raised to about $9.10 (12,000 won) next year. The ROK’s minimum wage is currently $7.30 (9,620 won). The unions pointed to inflation having lowered workers’ real wages.

KCTU’s Gangwon Regional Headquarters members held a press conference in front of Hallym University on Thursday. Park Jun-sik, a professor of sociology, teaches at that university. Park served as the chair of the Minimum Wage Committee. During his tenure, the minimum wage rose by 2.87% in 2020 and 1.5% in 2021. Union members criticized Park for the modest raises in the minimum wage, blaming him for “ignoring low-wage workers’ right to live.”