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The Korea Herald (25 Aug., 2004)
By Kim Sung-mi



Company executives, lawyers and dentists are the highest-paid people in Korea, a government report showed yesterday. Their monthly salary is more than triple the average 1.66 million won of the nation's work force.

The findings were based on a study of 50,000 domestic households, titled "2004 Job Map," conducted by the Human Resources Development Service of Korea, an affiliate of the Labor Ministry, last fall.

According to the study, the average worker in Korea is 43.7 years old and has 11.7 years of education, which is equivalent to completing high school.

Earning 6.15 million won a month on average, company executives came at the top of the pay chart, followed by lawyers with 5.57 million won and dentists with 4.89 million won.

Pilots were ranked fourth with 4.57 million won, while managing positions in the art and culture industry provided a 4.45 million won monthly income. Managerial jobs in information technology industry came sixth with 4.37 million won.



The study also found that Oriental medicine doctors in Korea were better paid than those with a Western medical background. Oriental medicine doctors earned 4.37 million won a month on average, compared with 4.35 million won for Western doctors.

Fund managers and investment and trust analysts were also included in the top 10.

Korea has a workforce of 22.45 million people. To be counted only one paid hour of work is required.

Female workers received 1.16 million won on average, about 40 percent less than men, whose monthly salary averaged 1.94 million won.

An average Korean worked 54.9 hours a week and changed jobs every nine years.

Shop ownership and sales were the biggest job groups, collectively accounting for 11.6 percent of the domestic labor market.

By industry, 1.83 million people were working in food-related businesses, the largest segment, trailed by retail businesses and the construction industry, engaging about 744,000 and 671,000 workers, respectively.

(smkim@heraldm.com)