Exclusive: Labor Ministry's youth interns paid at minimum wage for 3rd consecutive year

The combined base pay and meal allowance for youth interns at the Ministry of Employment and Labor has matched the monthly minimum wage equivalent exactly for three consecutive years, records show. The finding comes as President Lee Jae Myung has repeatedly called on the public sector to lead by example in paying "adequate wages" — yet the labor policy ministry's own intern compensation remains pegged to the minimum wage floor. Some civil service workers at the ministry also start their careers at pay levels barely above the minimum wage.

According to data the ministry submitted to the National Assembly, the monthly base pay for youth interns at its headquarters and affiliated agencies was 1.92 million won ($1,440) in 2024 and 1.96 million won in 2025. Adding the fixed monthly meal allowance of 140,000 won brings the totals to 2.06 million won and 2.1 million won, respectively — figures that match each year's monthly minimum wage equivalent down to the last won.

This year, the monthly base pay for youth interns stands at 2 million won. The meal allowance rose by 20,000 won from last year to 160,000 won per month, bringing the combined total to 2.16 million won — exactly equal to this year's monthly minimum wage equivalent.

The combined base pay and meal allowance the ministry set for its youth interns has matched the monthly minimum wage equivalent precisely for three years running. Expressed in round figures in the ministry's data, the monthly average compensation came to 2.06 million won, 2.1 million won and 2.16 million won across the three years. The monthly minimum wage equivalent is calculated on the basis of 209 hours per month, covering a 40-hour workweek plus paid weekly holiday hours.

At a town hall meeting in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, on Feb. 6, President Lee said, "The minimum wage is the floor below which you cannot go — it does not mean that paying only that amount is acceptable," stressing that the public sector must set the standard first. His remarks were widely understood as a call for the public sector to move beyond mere compliance with the minimum wage and pay genuinely adequate compensation.

Starting pay for some civil service workers within the ministry also showed little distance from the minimum wage. The average monthly compensation for first-year multilingual counselors under the Employment Permit System rose from 2.06 million won in 2024 to 2.13 million won in 2025 and 2.18 million won this year. Customer support officers, janitors, security personnel and facility management workers each earned 2.19 million won in their first year this year — only 20,000 to 30,000 won above the monthly minimum wage equivalent of around 2.16 million won. However, these figures represent first-year averages by job category and differ from the average pay of all workers currently employed.

The number of fixed-term workers hired at the ministry's headquarters and affiliated agencies rose 19.7 percent, from 2,137 in 2024 to 2,559 last year. Through August this year, the ministry had hired 2,053 fixed-term workers. Among them, statistical surveyors on fixed-term contracts earned an average of 2.21 million won per month this year, while employment counselors earned 2.4 million won.

The average length of service for departing workers shrank from 0.34 years in 2024 to 0.22 years last year and 0.19 years as of August this year. Because the figures are based on workers who left in each given year, they do not represent the average tenure of all fixed-term workers currently employed.

Improvements to compensation conditions introduced this year include an increase in the fixed meal allowance from 140,000 won to 160,000 won per month, a change to the holiday bonus calculation from a flat 1.1 million won annually to 120 percent of annual base pay, and the introduction of a new 50,000 won monthly allowance for employment counselors handling civil complaints.