"A minimum wage of 12,000 won? I'd rather not hire part-timers at all" — angry self-employed owners

[Financial News] Self-employed owners are voicing strong criticism after labor groups proposed a 12,000 won minimum wage for next year. With consumers already cutting back because of high inflation, they say higher labor costs would inevitably worsen profitability by pushing fixed expenses even higher.
According to industry sources on the 20th, the Minimum Wage Commission held its seventh plenary session on the afternoon of the 18th at the Government Complex Sejong. Labor groups proposed an initial minimum wage demand of 12,000 won per hour, up 16.3% from this year, or 2.508 million won per month based on 209 working hours.
Business groups have not yet announced their initial proposal, but they are expected to call for a freeze or only a modest increase, citing the difficulties faced by self-employed owners. Against that backdrop, self-employed owners are pushing back against labor's proposed 12,000 won minimum wage for next year.
A user identified as A, who is active on Naver's online community for self-employed owners, "Not_found," complained, "The economy is bad, but prices and the minimum wage keep rising. Sales are falling, so I can't raise food prices. Instead of endlessly raising the minimum wage, go after the useless middlemen, the tax thieves, and the cartels. It's getting harder and harder for self-employed owners to make money."
Some also argued that if the minimum wage rises further, the answer is to stop hiring employees and part-timers altogether. Self-employed owner B said, "The answer is not to hire staff. The answer is not to hire part-timers. The right thing is to run the store only as much as I can handle alone."
Others argue that the minimum wage already exceeds 12,000 won once weekly holiday pay is included. Self-employed owner C also said, "If you add weekly holiday pay, the minimum wage is already above 12,000 won." He added, "If the minimum wage is set at 12,000 won or higher, I plan to stop hiring part-timers and just sell enough to get by. As a franchise, I can't freely raise food prices anyway."
Some are also pointing to the broader economic situation and arguing that any minimum wage increase is impossible. Self-employed owner D said, "Rising rent and lease costs are already leading people to cut back on dining out. Landlords are facing higher loan interest rates, and self-employed owners' own debt costs are also rising." He added, "The high won–dollar exchange rate is pushing up the price of imported ingredients such as Chinese-made kimchi. If the minimum wage rises on top of that, there is no answer."
butter@fnnews.com Kang Kyung-rae Reporter