The minimum wage for next year was set at 9,620 won per hour. Progressive newspapers focused on the fact that the minimum wage increase was insignificant compared to high inflation, while conservative and economic newspapers showed a contrasting view, saying that concerns about inflation are growing due to the minimum wage increase. Progressive newspapers paid attention to the complaints of workers whose minimum wage was the highest wage, while conservative and economic newspapers highlighted the damage of small business owners and self-employed people.
Hankyoreh trend “Reduction of real wages”
The Hankyoreh and Kyunghyang Shinmun pointed out in their editorial that the increase in the minimum wage was insignificant compared to inflation. The Hankyoreh said, “This year’s inflation rate is the same as the rate of increase in the real wage, which can be said to have been frozen.
The Kyunghyang Shinmun said, “Considering the soaring prices, real wages will inevitably be cut. Moreover, he said, “Next year, welfare benefits such as meals and transportation expenses, which were separately received, will be counted more in the minimum wage,” he said.
The Kyunghyang Shinmun shed light on the workers affected by the slight increase in the minimum wage through an article titled “The minimum wage, the highest wage for me…always a negative life” article. In the case of Nam Mi-hae, who works as a cleaning worker in a building, the minimum wage is the highest. Kyunghyang said to these workers, “The news of the minimum wage decision deepened my anxiety.
Chosun Ilbo: “The minimum wage is already quite high”
Korean economy “worried about wage inflation”
Conservative and economic newspapers, on the other hand, reported critically that even this increase was high. These newspapers conveyed the voices of the socially underprivileged, such as small business owners and the self-employed, highlighting the fact that the minimum wage increase would ‘damage’ them.
The Korean economy published an article ‘The minimum wage has risen by 48% over six years… ‘Wage inflation’ has been anointed” and said, “As the minimum wage has been set at 9,620 won per hour, concerns about wage inflation are growing.” In addition, he emphasized the argument that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the self-employed will suffer damage as a result of falling into a vicious cycle of further increases in prices due to the minimum wage increase. This claim is the content of the position statement of the ‘National Federation of Entrepreneurs’.
The JoongAng Ilbo said in an editorial that ‘3.21 million people can’t get the minimum wage, but raise it recklessly.’ It is something we are not able to protect,” he said. The JoongAng Ilbo evaluated, “In the end, small business owners and small business owners were pushed to the edge of the brink, and even part-time jobs took away employment opportunities from desperate job seekers.”
The Chosun Ilbo reported the contents of the small business self-employed community article, such as “I am considering dismissal of employees” in the article “I can’t afford to raise my wages, so I can’t afford to work part-time.” The sigh of small business owners. In addition, the Chosun Ilbo focused on the ‘minimum wage compared to the median wage’ through the article ‘62.5% of the minimum wage compared to the median wage, 7th among OECD countries’, saying, “Compared to other countries, the minimum wage in Korea is already quite high.” .
JoongAng also said, “It is not desirable to keep distance from China”
On the 1st, the media analyzed the meaning of President Yoon Seok-yeol’s participation in the NATO summit.
First of all, the Hankyoreh and the Kyunghyang Shinmun dealt with the common point that they distanced themselves from ‘China’. The Kyunghyang Shinmun published an article ‘Distance between China and Russia as it got closer to NATO’ and said, “It was in response to NATO’s strengthening of China-Russia check-in with the Ukraine war as an opportunity.” It is interpreted that the Yun Seok-yeol administration’s diplomatic strategy to move together with the United States was laid down,” he said. The Hankyoreh also explained that “there are some observations that President Yun is starting an anti-Chinese stance in earnest.”
In this regard, the JoongAng Ilbo ordered through an editorial that ‘Korea-China relations’ should be managed carefully, unlike the Chosun and Donga Ilbo. The JoongAng Ilbo said, “China has more trade than the US, Japan, and Europe, and it is a country that needs to cooperate closely on security-related issues such as the denuclearization of North Korea. I don’t,” he feared.
While the distance with ‘China’ has increased, the relationship with ‘Japan’ is expected to grow closer. The Chosun Ilbo reported this, while the Hankyoreh expressed concern. The Chosun Ilbo published an article titled ‘President’s Office “Korea-Japan Summit, Expectation for Relations to Improve in a Top-Down Way”, expressing the government’s ‘expectation to improve relations’. On the other hand, the Hankyoreh published an editorial ‘confirming the will to improve relations’ between Korea and Japan, be wary of discussions on military cooperation,’ and said, “I am concerned about the appearance of Korea-US-Japan military cooperation as an issue right away.” You shouldn’t fall for diplomacy,” he said.
Chosun Ilbo again ‘Moon Jae-in government personnel’ Jeong Jo-joon
Following the Chosun Ilbo’s Korea Communications Commission Chairman Han Sang-hyeok, Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commissioner Jeon Hyun-hee, and former prosecutors from Minbyon, the heads of state-run research institutes appointed by the Moon Jae-in government were also ‘going straight ahead’. The Chosun Ilbo, in an editorial on the 1st, pointed out that “not only the heads of public institutions appointed by the Moon Jae-in government and the chairpersons directly under the president, but also the heads of national research institutes continue to hold positions in the new government.” In particular, the Chosun Ilbo pointed to Hong Jang-pyo, president of KDI, who designed and led the income-led growth, and said, “How will such a person join the new government that has declared the abolition of Suzhou Province?”
Next, the Chosun Ilbo mentioned Jung Hae-gu, chairman of the Economics, Humanities and Social Research Society, Kang Hyeon-soo, director of the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, Hwang Deok-soon, director of the Korea Labor Institute, and Lee Tae-soo, director of the Institute for Health and Social Affairs.
Rather, the Kyunghyang Shinmun highlighted the problem of being ‘stigmatized’ even if there is no significant relationship with the Moon Jae-in government in the prosecution. In recent times, the prosecution has been undergoing demotion and resignation through personnel appointments. The Kyunghyang Shinmun reported the remarks of a chief prosecutor, saying, “The prosecutors who were demoted because they just took a seat by chance are in a state of shock.”
