A HRW report shows how South Korean women face systemic barriers to climbing the career ladder

At 27, a woman in South Korea earns 8% less than male peers. By her late 50s, she earns 50% less. This is according to government wage data published in a recent Human Rights Watch (HRW) report. South Korea is a global technology and industrial powerhouse, but its gender pay gap has remained the highest in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) since comparable records began in 1992. "The gender division of labor inside the home leads directly to a gender division of labor in the labor market," Min Hee Kim, a Korean activist for women labor struggles, told DW. The problem, she argues, is not simply that women are paid less than men.