<Anchor>



Restaurants and lodging establishments in difficult circumstances have been demanding a different minimum wage since labor costs are high.

President Yoon Seok-yeol also said that before the last presidential election, it should be considered to set the minimum wage differently depending on the industry, but the conclusion of the Minimum Wage Committee that discussed this was 'no'.



More details are provided by reporter Jo Yoon-ha.



<Reporter>



[Minimum wage differentiation by industry and regional differentiation, implement immediately!

Implement it!]



Small business owners gathered in front of the government complex in Sejong, where the Minimum Wage Committee will be held.



Owners of restaurants, lodging establishments, and convenience stores demanded a different minimum wage, saying it is difficult.



[Chairman Yoon Chung-gi / Korea Confectionery Association: The places dominated by large corporations with money should be raised, and small business owners like us must either freeze or lower the industries where they are barely earning.] At the



meeting, companies and the labor community were at odds sharply.



[Lee Tae-hee / Head of the Smart Jobs Division of the Federation of Small and Medium Businesses: If (the minimum wage) is raised again, it will be a result of actually driving these difficult people to their limbs...

.]



[Park Hee-eun/Vice Chairman of the Federation of Trade Unions: Why are you trying to solve the problem that makes it difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises and the self-employed by cutting and reducing workers' wages?]



After nearly 10 hours of meeting, the proposal to apply the minimum wage differential was rejected.



Many of the public interest members appointed by the last government supported the union.



The public interest committee members instead suggested conducting a fact-finding survey to see if classification by industry was necessary, but this was not accepted.



Differentiation by industry was nothing less than a promise by President Yoon Seok-yeol.



[President Seok-Yeol Yoon (August of last year): It seems that a forward-looking review of the differential application by region and industry should begin now, even for a sudden increase in the minimum wage.



] responded that the Minimum Wage Commission is not a subcontractor of the current government.



Now the discussion is moving on to how much the minimum wage will be next year, but a more intense debate is expected due to the growing opposition from the business community.



(Video coverage: Kim Min-cheol, video editing: Yu Mira, CG: Choi Jae-young)