The amount of overdue wages in South Korea reached a five-year high in 2014 due to a prolonged economic slowdown, government data showed Monday.
According to the labor ministry data, local employers had not paid about 1.32 trillion won ($1.2 billion) to 293,000 workers across the nation as of the end of last year, an increase of 9.8 percent and 10.6 percent, respectively, from a year earlier.
The figure is the largest amount since 2009 when 301,000 workers failed to receive 1.344 trillion won in monthly wages and retirement allowances.
By industry, wages not paid by manufacturing firms took up 30.7 percent of the total, followed by construction companies with 23 percent and firms in the distribution and hospitality industries with 12.1 percent.
The ministry said it plans to encourage companies to pay their overdue salaries ahead of Lunar New Year’s Day, one of the biggest Korean traditional holidays, later this month.
The Lunar New Year’s Day, on which people generally spend money preparing special food and gifts for family and friends, falls on Feb. 19 this year. (Yonhap)
