Unpaid wages for work done reach 1.6 trillion won

The outstanding amount of unpaid wages, representing the earnings that workers did not receive for their labor by the year's end, totaled 1.65 trillion won over the past five years.

According to the data submitted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor to the office of Rep. Lee Joo-hwan of the People Power Party, the outstanding amount of unpaid wages accrued between 2019 and 2023 was 1.65 trillion won, which accounts for 21.1 percent of the total unpaid wages amounting to 7.79 trillion won during the same period.

The outstanding amount of unpaid wages refers to the sum owed to workers but not received by the end of the year. In 2019, this outstanding amount stood at 512.2 billion won. However, it decreased to 328.6 billion won in 2020, 219.7 billion won in 2021, and 212 billion won in 2022, which is attributed to the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This decrease is interpreted as a consequence of the economic contraction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, which also resulted in a contraction in the labor market. Moreover, unpaid wages decreased from 1.72 trillion won in 2019 to 1.35 trillion won in 2022.

However, while economic activity picked up last year following recovery from COVID-19, the economy slowed down, resulting in a significant increase in unpaid wages, particularly within the construction industry. In the past year, unpaid wages soared to a record high of 1.78 trillion won, with the outstanding amount rising once again to 373.3 billion won. This year, the Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to conduct special supervision of workplaces with more than 50 victims or delays totaling more than 1 billion won in payment.


Ae-Jin Ju jaj@donga.com