South Korea to Offer Tailored Job Support Amid Middle East Crisis Fallout

By Kang Yoon-seung

SEOUL, June 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea plans to roll out tailored job support measures for different sectors, including manufacturing, construction and agriculture, amid the fallout from the Middle East crisis, the finance ministry said Wednesday.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy held discussions with the labor ministry as the country lost 40,000 jobs in May from a year earlier, marking the first decline in 17 months, as the impact of the prolonged Middle East war weighed on the economy.

"Recently, a peace agreement was reached regarding the Middle East war, but uncertainties have not yet been fully alleviated, and challenges in livelihoods and the job market persist," the finance ministry said.

During the meeting, participants discussed ways to overcome three major challenges in the job market, namely demographic changes, the growing preference for experienced hires and the Middle East crisis, vowing to devise measures to revitalize youth employment.

The employment rate for people aged 15 to 29 came to 43.8 percent in May, down 2.4 percentage points from a year earlier.

The government added it will additionally utilize all available policy measures to provide tailored support for the manufacturing, construction, agriculture and fisheries sectors.

"We plan to proactively identify long-term tasks, including strengthening employment incentives," it added.

South Korea will also make proactive efforts to respond to changing workforce demand driven by the artificial intelligence (AI) transformation, according to the finance ministry.