Groups each representing labor and management in the first tripartite meeting to set next year’s minimum wage clashed over President-elect Yoon Suk Yeol’s plan to differentiate minimum wage by region and sector.

According to the Minimum Wage Commission, the first general meeting to discuss the 2023 minimum wage level was held on Tuesday with nine business leaders and nine public representatives fully present. Six of the nine labor representatives attended the meeting.

While there is a clause under the current law that permits a differentiation in minimum wages by industry and region, workers’ representatives said the respective clause has never been cited since its first application in 1988 when the minimum wage system was put in place and thus is dead.

Employers’ representatives, on the other hand, called for in-depth discussions on the differentiated application of minimum wages citing its legal basis. 

Workers’ and employers’ groups also argued over how much minimum wage should be raised, with the former pointing to high inflation and widening income bipolarization and the latter citing worsened management conditions by small businesses during the protracted pandemic.