The minimum wage in South Korea is set to surpass that of Japan for the very first time.

According to Japanese media outlets, including the Yomiuri Shimbun, on Wednesday, the Japanese labor ministry announced that minimum wages had been finalized by each of the municipal government's review panels the previous day.

The weighted average of all regions stood at 961 yen, or around nine-thousand-404 won, up three-point-three percent from last year.

Although Japan’s minimum wages were increased by a record margin for two consecutive years, the minimum wage in South Korea is set to surpass that of Japan's next year.

Earlier this year, South Korea decided on a wage hike of five percent for next year, resulting in a rate of nine-thousand-620 won per hour.

The media outlets cited the sharply depreciating yen and the higher value of recent wage hikes in South Korea as factors that led to South Korea’s overtaking of Japan.