The lowest-paid Korean could afford to buy fewer than one and a half hamburgers after working for an hour in 2012.

The price of a Mac Donald’s Big Mac stood at $3.21, leaving Koreans’ purchasing power below that of almost two dozen countries on the list, said Albain, an online part-time job portal, using the Big Mac Index data.

Meanwhile, Koreans received a minimum wage of $4.32 an hour, it explained.

Korea’s Big Mac buying power ranked 23rd among 44 countries evaluated in the index, with one of lowest monthly incomes among OECD members.

Japan had a Big Mac Index of $4.09 on a minimum wage of 774 yen ($8.34), while London had $4.16 with a wage of $11.01.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)