Income and poverty in the Republic of Korea

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Workers’ Income Rises 8% in 2000
Chosun Ilbo, 21 February 2001. Korean wage-earners received bulkier pay checks in the year 2000 with their monthly average income rising 8%. People working in transportation, storage and communications sectors benefitted the most. The monthly average hours worked edging down by almost two hours to 205-hours (brief).
Income gap narrows among workers
Korea Herald, 4 February 2003. The income gap among salaried workers narrowed for the first time since the financial crisis in 1997. These highest-salaried workers, subject to an income tax rate of 40%, represented 0.3 percent of the total number of salaried workers in 2001, down from 0.4 percent in the previous year. The number of the lowest-income earners with no taxable income after deductions also declined.
Income Gap for Salaried Workers Widens
Chosun Ilbo, 1 April 2003. [Contrary to the conclusion of the February article], the income gap between workers with different educational backgrounds has become more polarized due to an upsurge in the number of high-income earners, following the expansion of knowledge-based industries.
Koreans work less, earn more
The Korea Herald, 25 August 2003. Korean laborers worked fewer hours so far this year, but their wages rose at double-digit rates on average. The average numbers of hours worked a week hit 45.5 because of the reduction in working hours because of the adoption of the five-day workweek by more businesses.