"What if a 40-year-old man earning 3.7 million won shows up for a blind date?" Woman's Anger

Online Community Debates Over a Woman's Story
Average Monthly Salary of Statistical Wage Workers is 3.33 Million Won

A post by a woman who became extremely angry because the monthly income of a man she was introduced to did not meet her expectations is gaining attention online.

On the 29th, various online community boards shared a post titled "Man's Salary at Age 40," which stated, "The man I was introduced to had a post-tax monthly income of 3.7 million won," and added, "I can't understand how a man could come to meet a woman with this amount."

The author, Ms. A, revealed that she met the man through an acquaintance. During their conversation, she asked about his monthly salary, and he replied that his take-home pay after tax was about 3.7 million won. Upon hearing this, Ms. A said that the man's income did not meet her expectations and that she had no intention of continuing the meeting.

The author expressed her concerns about the man's income level, wondering, "Is he in the lower-middle tier, or is he in the bottom tier?" and "I want to know the average."

Comments were divided, with some saying, "I think that's average," "If he's an office worker, that's average; if he's a production worker, that's lower-middle," and "Isn't that amount okay?" Others commented, "If you feel your partner earns less, can't you just earn more yourself?" and "If he's not in a large company, many people earn in the high 2 million won range."

[Photo by Getty Images Bank]

If the take-home monthly salary is 3.7 million won, the annual salary would be approximately 53 million won. According to the '2021 Wage Worker Job Income (Compensation) Results' released by Statistics Korea on the 28th of last month, the average monthly income of wage workers in 2021 was 3.33 million won, an increase of 130,000 won (4.1%) compared to the previous year, and the median income was 2.5 million won, an increase of 80,000 won (3.3%).

The average monthly income refers to pre-tax income excluding non-taxable income, and the median income is an indicator showing the income level at the exact middle when wage workers are lined up in order of income.

By income bracket, the largest proportion of workers (26.3%) earned between 1.5 million and less than 2.5 million won. This was followed by 17.8% earning between 2.5 million and less than 3.5 million won, 13.8% earning less than 850,000 won, and 10.3% earning between 3.5 million and less than 4.5 million won. Workers earning more than 10 million won per month accounted for 3.1%.