Is There Really a Wage Gap Between Men and Women in Korea?

As usual the numbers in the article are used to provoke a reaction that women are being treated unfairly in Korean workplaces, however without further information these numbers do not prove that point. For example are Korean women primarily working in lower wage occupations compared to males? This article doesn’t say, but I suspect that is probably the biggest reason for the wage gap. If someone did a study that showed males were making more than females in the same occupation with the same hours worked and time in service then it would be a meaningful study:

While the wage gap between men and women is narrowing slowly in Korea, female workers still make only 70 percent of what their male counterparts earned per hour last year, according to a report co-published by the gender and labor ministries on Wednesday.

The average hourly wage of female workers was 18,113 won ($14) in 2022, while male workers earned 25,886 won, according to the “Women’s Economic Activity White Paper 2023.” This means that even though they work the same amount of time, women earn only 70 percent of what men receive.

However, the general wage gap has narrowed gradually, from 64.8 percent in 2012 to 65.9 percent in 2017, 69.8 percent in 2021, and 70 percent in 2022. Last year, the average monthly wage of men was 4.12 million won, compared to 2.68 million won for women.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.