Seoul: Next year's minimum wage is likely to be determined Thursday night or early Friday morning at the earliest, officials expected, as the Minimum Wage Commission (MWC) is set to hold last-minute negotiations at its ninth plenary meeting later in the day.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the MWC, a trilateral panel composed of nine representatives each from labor, management, and the general public, is obliged to complete its review on the new minimum wage by mid-July for a formal announcement by the labor minister by Aug. 5 every year.
The labor circle initially proposed a minimum wage of 11,500 won (US$8.48) per hour, an increase of 14.7 percent from this year's 10,030 won, but presented a revised proposal of 11,260 won on Tuesday. The management circle initially demanded a freeze of the minimum wage but has raised it to 10,110 won.
The gap has narrowed from an initial 1,470 won to 1,150 won, but both parties have yet to find the middle ground, the officials said. The difference between labor and management is so great that general public representatives are expected to exert the casting vote in the final negotiations, they speculated.
Last year, the MWC raised the minimum hourly wage by 1.7 percent to 10,030 won for this year.