Korea's economic and labour market situation

This chapter provides a concise overview of labour market trends and challenges in Korea. It describes how Korea’s vast economic and social development has shaped its labour market over the past five decades. The analysis highlights Korea’s predominance of micro‑enterprises with low productivity widespread culture of subcontracting practices high incidence of non‑regular work and the impact of these phenomena on labour market dualities and ongoing weaknesses around job quality and labour market inclusiveness. The chapter also discusses the challenges vulnerable groups – particularly women, youth and older workers – face within the labour market.