“Platform and gig workers to be excluded from 2026 minimum wage – commission requests further research”, 11 June 2025

South Korea’s Minimum Wage Commission has decided not to apply next year’s minimum wage to platform and gig workers, such as delivery riders. The public interest members of the commission stated that current research on these workers’ conditions is insufficient to proceed with meaningful deliberation and recommended that the Ministry of Employment and Labour conduct further study.

… Article 5(3) of the Minimum Wage Act states that a separate minimum wage may be set by presidential decree for piece-rate workers. Since last year, labour groups have argued that this clause should be used to expand minimum wage coverage to include gig workers, freelancers, and those in special employment arrangements. Business associations, however, have opposed the move, insisting that minimum wage protections should only apply to workers as defined by the Labour Standards Act, and that determining employment status for certain jobs is beyond the commission’s mandate.

In their statement, the public interest members said, “We believe it is difficult to advance discussions based on the current data,” and called on the Ministry of Employment and Labour to investigate the relevant scope, scale, income, and working conditions associated with applying Article 5(3), and to submit the results in time for next year’s 2027 minimum wage deliberations.