The percentage of South Korean workers who are members of labor unions surpassed eleven percent last year for the first time in 15 years. 

According to data by the Ministry of Employment and Labor on Wednesday, two-point-33 million, or eleven-point-eight percent of the country's 19-point-37 million workers were member of unions as of the end of last year. 

The number represents an increase of one-point-one percentage point from a year earlier and marks the first time the unionization rate has reached the eleven percent level since 2004. 

The labor union membership rate in the private sector came to nine-point-seven percent, while public sector unionization posted 68-point-four percent.

Meanwhile, membership in the country's second largest labor umbrella, the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, surpassed for the first time that of the erstwhile largest labor umbrella, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions.