Minimum Wage Commission's public-interest members call for system overhaul, urge government to form reform task force

Kwon Soon-won, chairman of the Minimum Wage Commission, listens to members' remarks during the 14th plenary session at the commission's offices at Government Complex Sejong on Tuesday. [Yonhap]

Public-interest members of the Minimum Wage Commission have called for a comprehensive overhaul of the minimum wage system to keep pace with a rapidly changing labor market driven by the spread of AI and the growth of platform work, recommending that the government establish a dedicated reform task force.

In a formal recommendation issued at the commission's 14th plenary session on Tuesday, the public-interest members said reform was needed "to address the situation in which similar debates repeat themselves each year during minimum wage deliberations, at a time when the economy and society as a whole are changing rapidly — driven by the spread of AI, the growth of platform-based businesses, and industrial restructuring."

The public-interest members said this year's deliberations had covered the scope of coverage under Article 3 of the Minimum Wage Act, the wage-setting criteria under Article 4, and the application of minimum wages to piece-rate work under Article 5, Paragraph 3 — but that all related proposals had failed to reach consensus and were voted down.

In response, the public-interest members proposed that the government establish a "minimum wage system reform task force" under the Ministry of Employment and Labor in the second half of this year to conduct a broad review of the system.

They recommended that the task force carry out comprehensive research and review of the current system's coverage and wage-setting criteria, develop improvement measures, and prepare the findings in time to inform next year's minimum wage deliberations.

The recommendation is notable for formally acknowledging that the current minimum wage system has failed to adequately reflect structural shifts in the labor market, particularly the expansion of platform work and piece-rate employment.

The public-interest members urged the government to follow through, saying it was necessary "to reduce recurring conflicts and advance the minimum wage deliberation process through system improvements suited to a rapidly changing labor market environment."

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