Government open to adjusting pace of minimum wage hikes: Minister

2018-09-12 4

South Korea's finance chief presided over an economic ministers' meeting on Wednesday... with the central focus being job creation.
Minister of Economy and Finance Kim Dong-yeon said,.... August's sluggish employment numbers gave him a heavy heart.
He stressed the government will push to execute a 38 billion dollar supplementary budget before the end of the year.
Kim also said,.... the government will discuss ways to adjust the *pace of the minimum wage hikes,.... which has been cited in business circles as the main reason that employers have been reluctant to hire more people.
Earlier this year...., the government raised the minimum wage by 10-point-9 percent.... to seven-U.S. dollars-50-cents next year.
This comes after a 16-point-four percent hike from 2017.