By Yoon Ja-young
The nation's finance minister hinted that the government may form a supplementary budget within the first half of this year to tackle chronic youth unemployment. He also stressed that the market and businesses are the main job creators.
"We have not excluded the extra budget from our policy option and there are diverse measures being prepared in terms of taxation and others. If a decision is made about the supplementary budget, it should be set as early as possible," Strategy and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said at a meeting with reporters, Tuesday.
He pointed out that an effective solution is needed as the echo-boom generation, or the children of the nation's second baby-boomers born between 1991 and 1996, are entering the job market, worsening the chronic problem of jobless youths. He estimated the potential number of jobless people might reach 140,000 as the young population grows by 390,000 between 2017 and 2021.
"If we ignore this problem, it could be disastrous. We are considering any reasonable policy options," he said, adding that the final decision on the extra budget will be made during the youth job policy meeting to be presided over by President Moon Jae-in Thursday.
According to Statistics Korea, Wednesday, the number of employed individuals was recorded at 26.08 million in February, up 104,000 from a year ago. That is the smallest year-on-year increase since 2010 January when the number of jobs contracted by 10,000.
The overall unemployment rate stood at 4.6 percent, marking a 0.3 percentage point fall from a year ago, while the youth unemployment rate stood at 9.8 percent. However, the de-facto jobless rate of young people, which includes those preparing for jobs, was 22.8 percent.
Kim expected signs of improving relations between South Korea and North Korea as well as between North Korea and the United States to have a positive impact on the economy, citing falling credit default swap (CDS) premiums and rising stock prices. According to financial information provider Markit, Korea's CDS premium fell to the lowest level in 17 months, following easing tension with the North.
"It will definitely be positive for the economy. The government will stress this to credit rating agencies and international organizations to enhance the country's credibility overseas," the minister said.
Kim also had a meeting with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won Wednesday, where he stressed the role of conglomerates in the Moon Jae-in administration's main agenda "innovative growth" as well as in job creation.
He said that youth unemployment is worsening due to the nation's social and economic structure, and added that the government is making efforts to tackle problems such as changes in industrial structure, sagging job creation potential in manufacturing and export industries, structural problems in education and the labor market.
"In the end, it is the market and businesses that create jobs. While the government makes diverse policy efforts and takes short-term measures, jobs should fundamentally be created in the market," he said.
He also said that conglomerates are the main pillars of innovative growth. "The administration focuses on innovative growth for sustainable development of the economy and society," he said, adding that conglomerates should join the efforts.
Chey said that SK Group will help with job creation and support start-ups, pursuing both economic and social values.
The nation's finance minister hinted that the government may form a supplementary budget within the first half of this year to tackle chronic youth unemployment. He also stressed that the market and businesses are the main job creators.
"We have not excluded the extra budget from our policy option and there are diverse measures being prepared in terms of taxation and others. If a decision is made about the supplementary budget, it should be set as early as possible," Strategy and Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said at a meeting with reporters, Tuesday.
He pointed out that an effective solution is needed as the echo-boom generation, or the children of the nation's second baby-boomers born between 1991 and 1996, are entering the job market, worsening the chronic problem of jobless youths. He estimated the potential number of jobless people might reach 140,000 as the young population grows by 390,000 between 2017 and 2021.
"If we ignore this problem, it could be disastrous. We are considering any reasonable policy options," he said, adding that the final decision on the extra budget will be made during the youth job policy meeting to be presided over by President Moon Jae-in Thursday.
According to Statistics Korea, Wednesday, the number of employed individuals was recorded at 26.08 million in February, up 104,000 from a year ago. That is the smallest year-on-year increase since 2010 January when the number of jobs contracted by 10,000.
The overall unemployment rate stood at 4.6 percent, marking a 0.3 percentage point fall from a year ago, while the youth unemployment rate stood at 9.8 percent. However, the de-facto jobless rate of young people, which includes those preparing for jobs, was 22.8 percent.
Kim expected signs of improving relations between South Korea and North Korea as well as between North Korea and the United States to have a positive impact on the economy, citing falling credit default swap (CDS) premiums and rising stock prices. According to financial information provider Markit, Korea's CDS premium fell to the lowest level in 17 months, following easing tension with the North.
"It will definitely be positive for the economy. The government will stress this to credit rating agencies and international organizations to enhance the country's credibility overseas," the minister said.
Kim also had a meeting with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won Wednesday, where he stressed the role of conglomerates in the Moon Jae-in administration's main agenda "innovative growth" as well as in job creation.
He said that youth unemployment is worsening due to the nation's social and economic structure, and added that the government is making efforts to tackle problems such as changes in industrial structure, sagging job creation potential in manufacturing and export industries, structural problems in education and the labor market.
"In the end, it is the market and businesses that create jobs. While the government makes diverse policy efforts and takes short-term measures, jobs should fundamentally be created in the market," he said.
He also said that conglomerates are the main pillars of innovative growth. "The administration focuses on innovative growth for sustainable development of the economy and society," he said, adding that conglomerates should join the efforts.
Chey said that SK Group will help with job creation and support start-ups, pursuing both economic and social values.
