A view of Seoul City Hall. Photo courtesy of the Seoul Metropolitan Government
Seoul’s living wage will rise 5.2% next year to 12,757 won an hour.
The city government said on the 10th that it had set the living wage for 2027 at 12,757 won per hour, up 636 won from 12,121 won this year. Based on a 40-hour week, or 209 hours a month, that translates to 2,666,213 won a month.
The rate is 2,057 won higher than next year’s minimum wage of 10,700 won an hour, or 119.2% of the statutory floor. Seoul’s living wage increases have accelerated from 2.5% in 2024 to 3.0% in 2025 and 2.9% in 2026, before jumping to 5.2% next year. Over the same period, the minimum wage rises 3.7%, from 10,320 won this year to 10,700 won next year.
The new rate takes effect for one year from January 1. It covers about 14,000 workers, including those directly employed by the city and its investment and funded institutions, workers at subsidiaries of city investment agencies, workers at private contractors financed entirely by city funds, and participants in the city’s Maeryeok Jobs program.
The city said it finalized the figure after a review on the 3rd by its Living Wage Committee, which includes representatives of workers and employers as well as outside experts. The committee weighed household spending pressures, inflation and the city’s fiscal condition.
“We raised next year’s living wage by a wider margin than the previous year in light of the heavier cost-of-living burden on workers amid recent price increases,” said Park Kyung-hwan, head of Seoul’s Bureau of Livelihood and Labor. “We will run the program substantively so that the living wage contributes to real stability in workers’ lives and to a better quality of life.”