Category: Korea-General Topics

Here is some gender wage gap information from the ROK government:

Male workers in listed firms in South Korea earned 1.6 times higher wages than their female colleagues last year, a government survey showed Thursday.

Men were paid an average 79.8 million won (US$68,800) in 2020, while their women counterparts received 51.1 million won, according to the study on 2,149 listed firms by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

The gender wage gap, referring to the rate of men’s average pay to that of women, reached 35.9 percent last year, far higher than 12.8 percent, the latest average of the Organization for the Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) released by British weekly The Economist, according to the ministry.

It is the first time the South Korean government had unveiled the average earnings by gender in local listed firms.

Yonhap

So why is the ROK government revealing this for the first time? Could it be because of the ROK presidential election within a year where the ruling party can claim only they can save women from gender discrimination?

Anyway if people are wondering why there is a wage gap here is part of the reason:

The average length of corporate service was 12.2 years for male workers and 8.2 years for female workers last year. The difference in their career length marked 32.6 percent in 2020, down 2.6 percentage points from 35.2 percent tallied the previous year.

The ministry said the wage gap tends to be in line with the disparity in workers’ length of service. It hits 28.7 percent when both genders have worked the same length of time, but the gap hikes to 46.1 percent when men’s length of service is 50 percent longer than that of women’s.

Time in service plays a major role in the gap which makes sense. What the article does not say is what is the difference in hours worked? Are the male workers putting in more overtime than female employees? This could further explain the wage gap as well.

It was inevitable that South Korea was going to have to issue booster shots to deal with variants of the coronavirus:

South Korea’s daily new coronavirus cases fell below 1,500 on Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend, with the country planning to offer booster shots to those who have been fully vaccinated in the fourth quarter to cope with the variant strains. 

The country added 1,487 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,426 local infections, raising the total caseload to 250,051, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Monday’s tally marked a drop from 1,793 on Saturday and 1,619 on Sunday. The number of patients normally falls over the weekend and rises later in the week as more people get tested.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Pretty soon there are going to be surveillance cameras everywhere. If this bill passes you won’t even be able to get a colonoscopy without a camera looking up your rear end:

Doctors are strongly protesting a contentious bill that will mandate the installation of surveillance cameras in operating rooms as a part of measures to prevent medical malpractice.

Citing the possibility of the surveillance affecting doctors’ surgical procedures and the leakage of video recordings, the nation’s largest doctors’ group said it will seek a constitutional petition if the bill is approved.

Their protest came after the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee passed the revision bill to the Medical Service Act, Monday. The Assembly plans to approve it at a plenary session on Wednesday.

According to the bill, hospitals must video-record medical procedures upon the patient’s or guardian’s request when an operation is conducted while the patient is unconscious such as under anesthesia. They have to save the recording for more than 30 days for future reference in case of legal disputes, and viewing the recording will be allowed upon request by an investigative body or a court, or when the patient and the hospital agree.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

The small business community in Korea continues to feel the brunt of the COVID restrictions:

The government’s decision to extend the current social distancing measures has drawn controversy, as many believe that such measures will not help curb the virus spread while only driving more self-employed up against the wall.

Along with the extension, the government also tightened the curfew on eateries and cafes, and expanded incentives offered to people who have been fully vaccinated for the coronavirus.

Small business owners criticized the strengthened limit on operating hours as excessive, while medical experts viewed that the “vaccine incentives” would have limited effects on boosting consumption.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Really the only thing South Korea can do next to curb the virus is to make people shelter in place, which I don’t will work anyway:

South Korea’s daily new coronavirus cases reached a new high of over 2,200 on Wednesday since the start of the pandemic in January last year in the face of monthlong toughened virus curbs and a slower than expected vaccination campaign.

The country added 2,223 COVID-19 cases, including 2,145 local infections, raising the total caseload to 216,206, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The latest caseload was up 683 from 1,540 the previous day. The country added one more deaths from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 2,135.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

If you are an expat in Korea and want to get the COVID vaccine, you are eligible for a free shot:

 South Korea’s government on Wednesday urged all foreigners staying long-term here to get COVID-19 vaccine shots as soon as possible, saying they are treated the same as South Korean nationals when it comes to the vaccination process.

The announcement jointly made by the Korea Immigration Service under the Ministry of Justice, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) and local governments came amid rising coronavirus infections among migrant workers across the country.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.