Uijeongbu City in Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Kim Donggeun) announced on September 8 that it recently convened the Living Wage Committee and set the 2026 living wage at 11,340 won per hour.
The committee, chaired by Deputy Mayor Kang Hyunseok, finalized the living wage after comprehensively reviewing next year's government minimum wage increase rate, the city's fiscal conditions, and the need to ensure workers' livelihood stability.
This amount is 2.9% higher than the 2025 living wage of 11,020 won per hour, and 9.8% higher than the 2026 minimum wage of 10,320 won per hour. When converted to a monthly salary based on 209 working hours per month, it amounts to 2,370,060 won, which is 66,880 won more than this year.
The newly determined living wage will apply to approximately 139 directly employed workers affiliated with Uijeongbu City starting January 1 of next year.
The living wage is a wage provided to ensure the livelihood stability of public sector workers and to guarantee substantial improvements in quality of life across various fields such as education and culture. The city enacted a related ordinance in 2016 and has implemented the living wage system since 2017.
Mayor Kim Donggeun stated, "Despite challenging fiscal conditions, the decision to raise the living wage is the best choice for improving the quality of life for our city’s workers and narrowing the income gap," adding, "We will continue to make efforts to ensure that workers can lead stable lives."
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