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Hello, this is Hong Seong-yong. I am currently at Times Square in New York. It feels very much like New Year.

Today, I want to talk about the minimum wage. Let's imagine we are at a supermarket in Manhattan.

I went grocery shopping today. Let's take a look at the receipt.

12 eggs for $8, a loaf of bread for $5, and 250g of cheddar cheese for $7.

When converted to Korean money, the eggs cost 11,600 won, the bread 7,250 won, and the cheese 10,150 won.

In Korea, buying 12 eggs costs 3,000 won, bread is 4,000 won, and cheese is 5-6,000 won, so here it's 2 to 3 times more expensive.

But everyone thinks this way. Still, the U.S. has a higher hourly wage. Yes, that's right.

Here in New York, the minimum wage is $17, which, at the current exchange rate of 1,450 won, is 24,650 won.

The minimum wage in Korea is 1,320 won, making it 2.4 times higher in the U.S.

So, do Americans live twice as well? And one more thing, why is it so expensive? Is it simply due to the cost of living?

Today, I will uncover that secret. Let's start with my friend Jessica's story.

She has been working at a Starbucks in Manhattan for 5 years now.

If she earns $17 an hour for 40 hours a week, how much does she make in a month?

Calculating it, $17 times 173 hours gives her a monthly salary of about $2,946.

Converted to Korean money, that's about 4.27 million won. Even a convenience store job earns about 4.3 million won a month.

Indeed, America seems the best. I thought so at first too, but taxes are deducted. The U.S. takes quite a bit in taxes.

After federal tax, state tax, and social security tax, the net amount is about $2,350, which is around 3.4 million won in the bank.

Now, this is where it gets real. The first expense is rent. A one-bedroom apartment at the end of Brooklyn costs $2,200.

Manhattan is obviously too expensive to live in. She lives 40 minutes away by subway. After taxes and paying $2,650 in rent from her salary of 4.27 million won,

she is left with exactly $157, which is about 220,000 won.

She earns over 4 million won a month but is left with only 220,000 won. What about food expenses? Transportation costs?

Jessica says that if she pays for food and transportation, she ends up in the negative. Savings?

She can't even dream of it. This is the reality in New York right now, and I thought it was strange, so I compared it with Korea.

Let's look at Min-soo in Seoul. In 2026, the minimum wage is 1,320 won, and if he works a full month, his salary is 2.15 million won.

Due to the exchange rate, Jessica's salary of 4.27 million won is only half of that. In terms of numbers, Min-soo appears much poorer.

On paper, Minsu looks much poorer.

However, after taxes, he receives 1.92 million won and pays only 550,000 won in rent.

Then, he has 1.37 million won left. Jessica in New York has 220,000 won left, while Minsu in Seoul has 1.37 million won left.

The exchange rate is around 1450 won, so American salaries look huge, but the expenses are equally enormous.

In the end, what remains in my pocket is six times more in Korea.

Even after spending 500,000 won on food, 65,000 won on transportation, 50,000 won on communication, and 50,000 won on health insurance, Minsu still has money to save.

The hourly wage is 2.4 times higher in the U.S., but the actual disposable income is much greater in Korea. Why is this happening?

Now, let's understand the system a bit. Jessica became a team leader after five years of work.

Currently, her hourly wage is $22, which is 5.5 million won per month.

Minsu also became a full-time employee after five years, earning 3.5 million won per month, so the difference has reduced to 1.6 times.

Initially, the difference was 2.4 times, but in the U.S.,

the starting salary is high, but the increase is small, while in Korea,

the starting salary is low, but the increase is significant. So, the idea that you make a lot of money in the U.S. is now only half true; the starting point is high, but the endpoint is similar. So why did this happen?

Let's look at three systems. The first is the housing system: in the U.S., you must pay rent in cash every month.

In Korea, rent has also risen to about 61% these days.

However, 39% is still jeonse. It's a system where you deposit a large sum and get it back when you leave.

In essence, the tenant is lending money to the landlord interest-free. There is nothing like this in the U.S.

Also, Korean rent requires a large deposit. The deposit

is around 50 million won with a monthly rent of 550,000 won. In the U.S., the deposit is about one month's rent, and the rest is paid in cash every month.

The U.S. system values cash right now.