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By Seok Jin-hwan, staff reporter
Park Geun-hye is under fire for being unaware of the legal minimum wage during a primary debate.
Questions are now being raised about the New Frontier Party presidential hopeful’s grasp of major social issues. She previously served on the National Assembly’s Environmental and Labor Committee, and currently sits on its Strategy and Finance Committee.
During an Aug. 8 debate at the Korea Broadcaster’s Center in Seoul, the moderator asked Park the minimum hourly rate for a part-time worker as of 2012. “I think it’s over 5,000 won (about US$4.44), isn’t it?” she replied.
Currently, the legal minimum wage stands at 4,580 won (US$4.06). It is scheduled to go up to 4,680 won (US$4.14) next year, a rise of 6.1%.
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions responded with a statement in which it said, “It is terribly discouraging when a person who wants to become president does not even know the country’s minimum wage, which is a minimal right for survival and the first step toward a welfare state.”
The organization also lamented, “Contrary to the spirit of the Constitution, the current minimum wage is set by the administration and employees and is failing to perform its proper function due to bias in its implementation.”
“The ruling [NFP] presidential contenders need to drop their hypocritical claims about serving the working class and either make it clear that they are candidates for the rich, or else actively cooperate in amending the Minimum Wage Act,” the KCTU said.
　
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