The wage of Korean companies surpasses Japan's

In 2002, the average monthly wage of Korean companies was less than half of Japan's. However, by 2022, 20 years later, it surpassed Japan's average wage. During this period, the wage gap between large corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Korea worsened compared to Japan's.

On Sunday, the Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF) released a report titled 'International Comparison of Korean-Japanese Wage Trends and Implications.' According to the report, the monthly wage of regular workers in companies with 10 or more employees in both Korea and Japan in 2022 stood at 3,998,000 won in Korea, surpassing Japan's figure of 3,791,000 won by 207,000 won per month. This marks the first time Korea has overtaken Japan in this survey conducted by the KEF.

In 2002, the monthly wage of Korean workers was 1,798,000 won, merely 47% of Japan's 3,854,000 won. Over the past 20 years, wages in Korea have surged by 122.4%, while those in Japan have experienced a slight decline of 0.03% (in yen), paving the way for this reversal. Notably, the substantial wage hike by large Korean companies has been instrumental in this shift. Wages at large Korean companies soared by 157.6% from 2,284,000 won in 2002 to 5,884,000 won in 2022. Ha Sang-woo, head of the Economic Research Division of the Federation of Korean Industries, emphasized the growing concern over the wage gap between large corporations and small and medium-sized enterprises in Korea, which causes social conflict. He underscored the importance of high-wage companies to exercise restraint in raising wages further and instead focus on creating more job opportunities for young people while enhancing the management conditions of small and medium-sized partners.


Jae-Hyeng Kim monami@donga.com