Seoul, South Korea – South Korea has achieved a new milestone in gender equality with the country’s female employment rate hitting a record high of 54.1% in 2023, according to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

The latest "Women's Economic Activity White Paper" released on [date] revealed that the number of employed women reached 12.46 million in 2023, marking a 303,000 increase from the previous year. This upward trend in female employment has been consistent over the past decade, with a 5.2 percentage point increase since 2013.

The report also highlighted a significant improvement in the traditional "M-curve" phenomenon, which refers to the dip in women's employment rates in their late 20s and early 30s due to childbirth and child-rearing. However, with declining birth rates and later marriages, the M-curve has become less pronounced in recent years.

Despite these positive developments, a substantial gender pay gap persists. In 2023, the average monthly earnings for female workers were 2.78 million won, compared to 4.26 million won for male workers, representing a difference of 1.47 million won. Even among full-time employees, women earned on average 1.42 million won less than men.

The report also found that while women's earnings increased with longer tenure, they still worked fewer hours than men. On average, male employees worked 164.4 hours per month, while female employees worked 148.2 hours.

"While it's encouraging to see progress in women's employment rates, the persistent gender pay gap remains a significant challenge," said [Name], a spokesperson for the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. "The government is committed to addressing this issue through a combination of policies aimed at promoting equal pay for equal work, providing affordable childcare, and supporting women's career development."

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]