Daegu labor office tops nation in minimum wage violation reports for 6th consecutive year

The Daegu Regional Employment and Labor Office, which oversees Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, has received the highest number of minimum wage violation reports per 100,000 wage workers in the country for six consecutive years, according to data released Sunday.

People Power Party lawmaker Yoon Jae-ok, a member of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee who represents Dalseo-gu in Daegu, obtained complaint figures from the Ministry of Employment and Labor covering seven regional labor offices and converted them to a per-100,000-worker basis. The analysis showed the Daegu office recorded 6.5 cases through August this year, the highest in the nation.

The Gwangju office, which covers Gwangju, South Jeolla Province, North Jeolla Province and Jeju, came in second with 5.9 cases, followed by the Seoul Regional Employment and Labor Office with 4.7 cases. The national average stood at 4.0 cases. The Daegu office has ranked first every year since 2021.

In 2021, the Daegu office recorded 20.5 cases — 2.3 times the national average of 8.9. Last year, it recorded 10.7 cases, 1.8 times the national average of 6.0.

Analysts attributed the persistent trend to a chronic shortage of quality jobs in the region.

Daegu's per-capita gross regional domestic product in 2024 was 31.37 million won ($23,300), well below the national average of 49.48 million won, and the city has ranked last in the country for 30 consecutive years since 1995.

The lack of quality jobs pushes young workers entering the labor market toward low-wage positions, where many fail to receive even the legally mandated minimum wage.

Workers in their 20s accounted for 530 of the 1,887 workers in Daegu confirmed to have been underpaid under the minimum wage law between 2021 and August 2026 — the largest share of any age group at 28.1 percent.

Among the seven special and metropolitan cities, Daegu ranked first for four consecutive years from 2021 to 2024 in net outflows of residents in their 20s — meaning more young people left than arrived — and came in second in 2025 with a net outflow of 4,884 people.

"Young people in Daegu struggle to find good jobs, and even in the first job they manage to land, many are not receiving the minimum wage they are owed," Yoon said. "If we cannot even protect their wages, there is no reason for young people to stay in Daegu."

He added, however, that blanket punishment of small business owners amid rapidly rising minimum wages was not the answer. "The Daegu office must take the lead through campaigns and guidance to find a path where youth and business owners can thrive together," he said.