Which city has best work-life balance in Korea?

Seoul, the capital of Asia’s fourth-largest economy, may seem like a busy metropolis with the country’s most overworked people, but it was actually the best city for work-life balance in South Korea last year.

Seoul was the highest-ranked city by earning 58.8 out of 100 points in terms of work-life balance among 17 cities and provinces in the country, a government index showed Wednesday.

Jeju Island came in second with 56.7 points, followed by Busan with 56.2 points, South Jeolla Province with 55.2 points and Daejeon with 53.7 points.

Seoul earned the highest score for its institution aimed at boosting work-life balance, including parental leave system, while Jeju Island and Busan received high points for how they realize work-life balance in everyday lives.

The cities that had the lowest work-life balance was Ulsan with 43.3 points. North Gyeongsang Province and South Chungcheong Province also scored low in the index with 43.8 points and 46 points, respectively.

The average score of work-life balance across the country was 50.5, up 0.4 percentage points from the previous year.

Jeju island saw the biggest jump in its points in 2019, compared to the 2018 index in which the city only scored 47.5 points.

Busan topped the work-life balance index in 2018.

The Ministry of Employment has annually published a work-life balance index based on 24 factors including total work hours, overtime work hours, amount of time men spend on housework and parental leave system since 2017.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)