South Korea plans to unveil a comprehensive
package of measures next month to cope with the nagging problem of growing unemployment among its young people, officials said Sunday.
The move comes as many young Koreans are struggling to land jobs. The country's headline jobless rate stood at 3.5 percent in June, but the
unemployment rate among those aged 15-29 was 8.3 percent.
According to the officials at the finance and labor ministries, the government will first conduct a survey this month to find out what obstacles young people face before announcing the measures in August.
"High unemployment among young Koreans has been the economy's Achilles' heel since the 1997-98 foreign exchange crisis," a finance ministry official said. "The government will be able to make public countermeasures after
confirming the difficulties confronting young people."
At the heart of the problem is the "mismatch" between the reality of the job market and the expectations of highly educated young people, the
official pointed out.
In light of the fact, the envisioned measures will be focused on the structural reform of the domestic labor market and the revitalization of
programs aimed at promoting the capabilities of jobseekers, he said.
One possible solution is for the government to urge public corporations to hire more young people, the official added. State-invested companies are currently required to fill 3 percent of their annual intakes with people aged 15-29.
In a recent interview with Yonhap News Agency, Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun said the government is seeking to map out a package of short- and long-term measures to alleviate the problem.
"Basically, the government will step up efforts to create more jobs by upgrading the country's service industry and nurturing new growth engines," the minister said. "The government will also continue to offer employment
support services such as job training programs."