Jihyun Park: "Raising High Earners' Wages While Freezing Minimum Wage Is Despicable... Democratic Party Must Speak Out"

On SNS: "Democratic Party's 'Livelihood' Omits 'Minimum Wage Increase'"
"Must Fight and Win on Minimum Wage Issue"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] Former Emergency Committee Chair of the Democratic Party, Park Ji-hyun, voiced on the 28th that the Democratic Party needs to speak out regarding the minimum wage increase issue.

On the same day, through social media (SNS), former Chair Park pointed out, "The legal deadline for deliberating the minimum wage is tomorrow," adding, "The business and labor sectors are still sharply divided, but it seems the Democratic Party's 'livelihood' has lost the 'minimum wage increase'."

She said, "During the Moon Jae-in administration, when the minimum wage increase was heavily criticized, the government almost gave up on raising the minimum wage in the mid-term of its tenure. Presidential candidate Lee Jae-myung also did not include a minimum wage increase in his election pledges," but added, "This was due to backlash from small business owners who found it difficult to even pay the minimum wage to workers."

Former Chair Park stated, "The government's role is to strengthen social security for struggling small business owners and raise the minimum wage for workers," and criticized, "Freezing the minimum wage citing the difficulties of small business owners is just an excuse to favor large corporations."

She argued, "If wages do not rise above the inflation rate while prices are soaring, the real wages of salaried workers will fall," and "When real wages fall, consumption decreases, making it inevitable that the livelihoods of small business owners and self-employed workers become bleak."

Former Chair Park said, "While raising the salaries of high-income earners, freezing the minimum wage that affects the livelihoods of youth, ordinary citizens, and non-regular workers is a despicable act," and urged, "The Democratic Party must strongly raise this issue, which is at the forefront of people's livelihoods." She added, "If the Democratic Party neglects the minimum wage issue, how is it different from the People Power Party that only protects corporate freedom?"

She continued, "The Minimum Wage Commission must reach a conclusion that guarantees the real wages of workers," and "The Democratic Party must fight and win on this issue."

She also urged, "President Yoon Seok-youl should make a decisive decision to raise the minimum wage so that minimum wage workers do not face a livelihood crisis due to soaring prices and interest rate hikes."