Labor, businesses clash over industry-specific minimum wages

South Korean labor and business groups clashed Tuesday as the state wage-setting panel opened talks on a variable minimum wage, a proposal backed by employers and fiercely opposed by unions.

The talks came a day after labor groups proposed raising the 2027 minimum wage by 16.3 percent to 12,000 won ($7.93) an hour.

The sixth plenary meeting of the Minimum Wage Commission in Sejong focused on proposals to have different minimum wages depending on industry, one of the most divisive issues in this ...