The minimum wage for next year was 8,720 won, up 130 won (1.5%) from this year (8,590 won).

It is the lowest rate of increase since 1988, when the nation's minimum wage system was first implemented.

Paradoxically, the government of Moon Jae-in, who made a pledge of'lowest wage 10,000 won' and took a drive to raise the minimum wage in the early days of power, has left the record of the lowest minimum wage increase rate.

Above all, it can be seen as the result of the economic crisis caused by the new coronavirus infection (Corona19).

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From the beginning, the deliberation on the minimum wage for next year has been a decisive factor in the deliberation of the next year's wages.

At the first meeting of the 11th of last month, which began the deliberation of the minimum wage for next year, Park Jun-sik, the chairman of the minimum wage committee, defined the situation of Corona 19 as'nothing at all,' and emphasized that the deliberation of the minimum wage was significant.

The business community insisted that the situation in Corona 19 has reached the limit of SMEs and small business owners, and can no longer bear the burden of labor costs due to the increase in the minimum wage.

Although the minimum wage increase rate (2.9%) being applied this year is the third lowest, the management's position is that the minimum wages of 2018 and 2019, the early stages of the Moon Jae-in government, rose 16.4% and 10.9%, respectively.

From 2018 to this year, the minimum wage increase rate for the three years reached 32.8%.

The business community also raised the possibility of'minus' growth becoming a reality, considering that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) expected Korea's economic growth rate to be -2.1% this year.

On the basis of this, the demand for the minimum wage for next year was steadily demanded.

The working world also considered the Corona 19 as a key variable, but the conclusion was the opposite.

As the corona19 crisis made it difficult for the livelihood of low-wage workers to live, the need for an increase in the minimum wage, a social safety net, has increased, the labor industry said.

The labor union's view is that economic recovery can also be resilient if consumption is stimulated by the increase in the minimum wage.

It can be seen as a claim in the same context as income-driven growth.

The difficulties of small and medium-sized businesses and small business owners were not raised by the minimum wage, but the economic structure centered on large conglomerates, the labor industry said.

It is argued that it should be solved by easing unfair trade by large and small companies, but not by approaching to suppressing the increase in the minimum wage.

In this situation, the rate of increase in the minimum wage for next year has been set to the lowest level in the past, which can be seen as the result of management's assertion.

◇ As it seems to consider the employment of low-wage workers

, it is true that the rate of increase in the minimum wage for next year was the lowest level ever.

Excluding the minimum wage for next year, the lowest rate ever recorded was the 1998 (2.7%) during the International Monetary Fund (IMF) currency crisis.

At the time of the IMF foreign exchange crisis, experts believe that the impact of employment was much worse than the impact of the Corona 19 crisis.

According to the analysis of the Korea Labor Institute, the decline in domestic employment in the first three months of the Corona 19 March-May this year was 870,000, less than the 103 million in the first three months of the IMF foreign exchange crisis, January-March 1998.

However, during the IMF foreign exchange crisis, full-time workers were driven by large-scale layoffs due to restructuring centered on large companies, but the employment impact of the Corona 19 situation is different in that it concentrates on vulnerable groups such as irregular workers, temporary workers, temporary workers, and special workers.

It is also those who are primarily affected by the minimum wage.

Public interest commissioners who led the review of the minimum wage for next year also seem to have paid attention to this area.

While the allegations that the deterioration of the employment index in 2018 is attributable to the increase in minimum wages have been inflated by political intentions, experts generally agree that the increase in minimum wages can act as a pressure to cut jobs at small businesses that employ low-wage workers.

In the case of the Corona 19 situation, the main goal is to keep the employment of low-wage workers as the first goal.

Professor Soon-Won Kwon, a professor of public interest, Sookmyung Women's University, said, “In the uncertain situation, the first cost that companies adjust is the labor force, but the job reduction effect in the labor market that can occur when the minimum wage rises above expectations. I thought it was much bigger."

However, it is unavoidable to point out that the low-wage workers who have earned the minimum wage have been ignored.

Millions of workers are affected by the minimum wage.

In particular, considering the fact that the minimum wage input range will be expanded next year, there are also voices of concern that it may actually result in freezing or reduction.

If the scope of the minimum wage is expanded, the employer can avoid the minimum wage violation even if the actual wage is increased less.

Due to the revision of the Minimum Wages Act in 2018, regular bonuses and welfare expenses that fall within the minimum wage range are gradually expanded, and in 2024, the total amount is included in the scope.

◇ Commitment to'Minimum Wage of 10,000 Won' As the end of

next year's minimum wage increase rate is only 1.5%, the Moon Jae-in government's minimum wage of 10,000 won is far from feasible.

Initially, the current government's pledge was to raise the minimum wage to 10,000 won by this year.

This has already been eliminated in the deliberation last year, which decided on the minimum wage to be applied this year.

It is unlikely that the minimum wage of 10,000 won will be realized until 2022, the last year of the current government term.

If the minimum wage for next year is set at 8,720 won, the increase rate should be 14.7% in the next year's deliberation to realize the minimum wage of 10,000 won in 2022.

Considering the prospect that the Corona 19 event will continue for at least a year or two in the future, it is difficult to expect a high rate of increase even in the next year's review.

Eventually, the realization of the minimum wage of 10,000 won would increase the chances for the next government to move forward.

The government's pledge to realize the minimum wage of 10,000 won with the launch of the government is likely to be stranded in the face of an unexpected national crisis of the Corona 19 crisis, following the public opinion that the worsening of the employment index in 2018 was due to the increase in the minimum wage.

In the end, it is the view of the labor industry that the current government was unable to pursue labor policies with consistent philosophy and strategy.

The increase in the minimum wage also had to be combined with policies for small and medium-sized businesses and self-employed people in the framework of economic democratization. will be.

Lee Joo-ho, head of the Policy Division at the National Federation of Democratic Trade Unions (Democratic Union of Trade Unions) said, “The current government's various policies for respecting the labor, including the increase in the minimum wage, were born in the atmosphere of a “candlelight revolution”. "It's becoming."

(yunhap news)