 |
| Job seekers visit a job fair in southern Seoul, Monday. Yonhap |
By Yi Whan-woo
More Koreans in their 20s are struggling with debt and are relying on the government to write off their arrears, while it is getting tougher to land jobs.
Such challenges faced by young Koreans are adding to concerns of an economic slowdown, as the demographic group is a valuable component of the nation's workforce in the midst of a rapidly growing aged population, according to experts.
According to data compiled by Credit Counseling & Recovery Service (CCRS), a record 4,564 people aged 20 to 29 had their debts written off by the government in the first half of this year after being subject to debt workout programs.
The data was released, Tuesday, by Rep. Choi Seung-jae of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) who is also a member of the National Assembly's National Policy Committee.
In 2018, 2,273 young Koreans had their debts written off by the government. The number fell to 2,325 in 2019, but rose to 3,850 in 2020 and to 4,109 in 2021. It briefly retreated to 3,509 in 2022.
The data showed that the average amount of debt that the government wrote off increased over the last five years.
The amount totaled 8.8 million won in the January-June period of 2023, up 67 percent compared to 5.3 million during the same period of 2018.
"The greater reliance on the government by twentysomethings to settle their debts poses a burden on economic growth, as such problems are associated with unemployment in the age group," the lawmaker said.
He referred to the dwindling number of newly-hired people in their 20s, which went down by 128,000 year-on-year in July and led to a nine-month fall in the number of newly-employed workers among those aged between 15 and 29.
The decrease in newly-hired workers among people in their 20s was the steepest among all age groups.
A total of 61,000 jobs decreased for those in their 40s, while 51,000 jobs were added for those in their 30s, and another 61,000 for those in their 50s.
People aged 60 or older saw the highest number of job additions at 298,000.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a researcher at Korea Institute for Industrial Economics & Trade (KIET) said the government should "ensure that young people safely enter the job market and raise their salaries for the sake of the country in the long term."
"Economic growth is directly linked to the country's workforce and its production, and a failure in job policy for people in their 20s will be very costly as the economy will depend on them as the years pass by," he said.
![[INTERVIEW] Mirinae Lee's '8 Lives of a Century-Old Trickster' offers fresh perspective on Korean history](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/5fb62072584d44649ed0ca5956d387ea.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[REVIEW] Preview gala sets stage for grand premiere of 'La Rose de Versailles' musical](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/c7528d2924cd43c8a469cd46e6f56127.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
