汇丰银行-韩国国内消费-korea consumer：our thoughts on minimum wage increase-20170718-hsbc.pdfVIP

18 July 2017   Korea Consumer EQUITIES CONSUMER Our thoughts on minimum wage increase Korea  2018 minimum wage set to increase by 16.4% to KRW7,530 Karen Choi* Head of Consumer and Retail Research, Asia-Pacific  We think this is more negative for SMEs than large retailers The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited, Seoul Securities Branch  Key Buys remain GS: TP KRW77k and BGF Retail: TP karen.choi@ +822 3706 8781 KRW150k on structural growth opportunities * Employed by a non-US affiliate of HSBC Securities (USA) Inc, and is not registered/ qualified pursuant to FINRA regulations What’s new? According to the Minimum Wage Committee, the 2018 minimum wage has been set at KRW7,530 (up KRW1,060, equivalent to a 16.4% y-o-y increase) on 15 July. Given President Moon pledged a minimum wage target of KRW10,000 by 2020, this seems in-line with his commitment. The purpose