Abstract
This article examines the status and structural characteristics of the Korean labor market since the global financial crisis in 2008. Even though the Korean labor market was resilient in the wake of that crisis, there are issues that require attention, which is including high earnings inequality, an aging labor force, increasing non-regular jobs, and rising youth unemployment rates. The Korean workforce has clearly divided not only by type of employment, but also by size of firms (large corporations and SMEs). Therefore, the main problem of employment is basically originated from the deepening dual structure in the labor market. This paper presents a brief characterization of the Korean’s labor market, analyzing in detail the main employment indicators. It also analyzes wage gap, and working conditions by employment type and firm size, focusing on the dual labor market. Additionally, examines the current situation of platform work, which has emerged as a major area of the labor market, and the trend of minimum wage, which has fluctuated in the last two years
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