Economic Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Discusses Supply of 550,000+ Job Positions

"Proactive Response with the Period Industry Stabilization Fund, etc."

Hong Nam-ki, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Economy and Finance [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] On the 13th, the government held a Green Room (綠室) meeting at the Government Seoul Office, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Hong Nam-ki, with ministers from related ministries attending, to assess the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) on the employment market.

The meeting was attended by Minister of Employment and Labor Lee Jae-gap, Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination Koo Yoon-chul, Commissioner of Statistics Korea Kang Shin-wook, Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs to the Blue House Lee Ho-seung, and Senior Secretary for Jobs to the Blue House Hwang Deok-soon.

The attendees judged that, regarding the employment market, the face-to-face service sector, which has been heavily affected by COVID-19, is facing greater difficulties, and that shocks are gradually becoming visible in manufacturing and other sectors due to sluggish exports.

According to the 'April Employment Trends' announced by Statistics Korea on the day, the number of employed persons last month decreased by 476,000 compared to a year earlier. This is the largest decline since February 1999 (658,000), when the effects of the foreign exchange crisis were felt.

The attendees recognized very seriously the situation where the number of employed persons decreased for two consecutive months following March, with the decline significantly expanding, confirming that the COVID-19 shock is now fully impacting the Korean employment market.

They unanimously agreed that special attention must be given to addressing difficulties in the employment market, especially focusing on temporary and daily workers and self-employed individuals, who have been significantly affected.

The government plans to focus discussions on measures such as the 'rapid supply plan for 550,000+α direct jobs' at the Emergency Economic Central Countermeasures Headquarters meetings scheduled for the 14th and 21st to support vulnerable groups' employment.

To prevent the spread of employment shocks in manufacturing and other key industries, the government will proactively respond through the Industrial Stability Fund and continue to devise additional employment market stabilization measures.

The attendees pledged to mobilize all policy capabilities to quickly alleviate the hardships faced by the public due to employment market shocks. Above all, they agreed to ensure thorough preparation for the prompt submission of the third supplementary budget bill to the National Assembly and its swift execution following approval.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.