S. Korea to raise minimum wage 6 percent in 2012

SEOUL, July 13 (Yonhap) -- A trilateral council comprised of the government, labor and management on Wednesday agreed to raise the country's minimum wage 6 percent to 4,580 won (US$4.3) an hour next year.
   Representatives of the Minimum Wage Council reached the deal in a 12-4 vote with 3 abstentions at the end of an overnight negotiation, the council said.



   The decision will increase the minimum wage for those who work 40 hours a week to 957,220 won a month and to slightly over 1 million won a month for employees working 44 hours a week, it said.
   Officials expect the raise will benefit the roughly 2.34 million workers in the country struggling with low income.
   The deal came 13 days after labor and management representatives of the council walked out of the last-minute talks to set the minimum wage after failing to narrow their differences over the level of the wage raise. They had vowed to resign from the council altogether, refusing to vote on the minimum wage.
   The labor circle initially wanted a 25.2 percent raise from 2011's minimum wage set at 4,320 won to reflect the current high inflation levels. The management, however, opposed the proposal, saying too much of a raise in the minimum wage will worsen financial difficulties of small-sized companies.
   Wednesday's agreement is expected to spark debate with the country's two umbrella labor unions that claim the government and management members of the council bulldozed their minimum wage plan without taking into account the harsh conditions of low-income employees.
   The decision also came after the statutory deadline for setting next year's minimum wage already passed on June 29.
   The Ministry of Employment and Labor is scheduled to fix the minimum wage by Aug. 5 after announcing details of the agreement next week.