The Korea Economic Association revealed on June 23 that a survey conducted by Monoresearch among 500 self-employed individuals found that 57% of respondents indicated their business situation has deteriorated this year compared to last year.
Only 8.4% reported an improvement, while 34.6% said their conditions remained similar to the previous year. Among different sectors, the retail (66.3%) and accommodation and food service (65.8%) industries reported the highest rates of worsening conditions.
Regarding the appropriate level for next year's minimum wage increase, 44.6% of respondents favored a freeze. This was followed by a proposed increase of less than 1-3% (20.6%), a decrease (13.0%), and an increase of less than 3-6% (12.6%). In the accommodation and food service sector, 56.6% called for a freeze, the highest among all sectors.
Additionally, 59.2% of self-employed workers stated they currently have no capacity for additional hiring. A significant number also indicated they would consider reducing their workforce or forgoing hiring altogether if the minimum wage were to increase.
Pressure to raise selling prices is also significant, with 37.6% of respondents planning to increase prices even at the current minimum wage level.
About 34% of self-employed individuals reported that their average monthly income does not reach the minimum wage level of 2,156,880 won (based on a 40-hour workweek). Furthermore, one in four self-employed workers (25.2%) stated they are in a critical situation, considering closing their businesses.
When asked about improvements to the minimum wage system, the most common suggestions included limiting increases based on economic conditions (24.3%) and applying different rates based on industry and region (21.9%).
Lee Sang-ho, head of the Economic Division at the Korea Economic Association, emphasized that the combination of high exchange rates, rising oil prices, and prolonged domestic demand stagnation has severely worsened the business conditions for self-employed workers. He warned that a sharp increase in the minimum wage could lead to further income decline and employment contraction for these workers.
Meanwhile, next year's minimum wage will be uniformly applied across all sectors. The Minimum Wage Commission held its 7th plenary meeting on June 18 at the Government Sejong Center to vote on whether to apply different rates by industry, but the proposal did not receive majority support. The labor sector has proposed a minimum wage increase of 16.3% from this year, setting the hourly wage at 12,000 won and the monthly wage at 2,508,000 won (based on 209 hours per month).
* This article has been translated by AI.
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