A 20-something intern at a small Seoul gallery, identified as Park, accepted a job paying 1.35 million won ($910) per month after taxes—below South Korea's minimum wage—because she believed early experience was essential for career advancement in the art world. The article, based on interviews with the Korea JoongAng Daily, reveals that many entry-level workers face low pay and precarious conditions, exacerbated by a severe oversupply of arts graduates (48,000 annually) versus only about 3,523 job postings per year on the industry site Art More, leading to reliance on personal connections and informal hiring.
This matters because South Korea's art market has grown significantly in scale and global visibility, hosting major events like Frieze Seoul, yet the working conditions for entry-level employees have not improved. The disconnect highlights structural inequities in a small industry where limited revenue and few full-time positions force cost pressures onto the lowest-paid workers, perpetuating a system where low wages are treated as an informal rite of passage. The article underscores a broader tension between the market's international success and the unsustainable labor practices that sustain it.