Workers’ Income Rises 8% in 2000

Chosun Ilbo, Vol. 200102 no. 74, 21 February 2001

Korean workers received bulkier pay checks in the year 2000 with their monthly average income rising 8% year-on-year, to around W1.7 million, or nearly US$1,400-hundred. The Ministry of Labor said Korean workers’ overall wages went up thanks to greater overtime pay and special bonuses. Ministry officials added people working in transportation, storage and communications sectors benefitted the most with a 12% pay raise, while those in finance, insurance and real estate saw much less. The pay raise, however, didn’t mean having to put in longer hours on the job with the monthly average edging down by almost two hours to 205-hours.