Koo Yun-cheol: "Improving Youth Employment Is Our Top Priority"

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Koo Yun-cheol stated on June 12, "We will place the highest priority on improving the youth employment situation and dedicate our utmost efforts to it."

During the Emergency Economic Headquarters Meeting and Ministerial Meeting on the Economy held at the Government Complex Seoul this morning, Deputy Prime Minister Koo remarked, "Uncertainty in employment conditions is increasing, as seen in the shift to a decline in the number of employed persons in May."

To address this, he announced plans to closely analyze detailed employment trends by demographic and industry, immediately improve areas requiring swift action, pursue mid-to-long-term institutional reforms, and strengthen employment-related incentives.

Assessing the current economic situation, Deputy Prime Minister Koo said, "While our economy is showing solid growth, we continue to face burdens on prices and supply chains due to the war in the Middle East, as well as volatility in exchange rates and financial markets." He emphasized, "We will maintain special vigilance over prices and employment, and do our utmost to minimize the impact of the Middle East war and stabilize the livelihoods of the people."

Regarding the government's "super-innovation" economic projects aimed at securing world-leading technologies and gaining a competitive edge in the global market, he said, "For next-generation power semiconductors, we plan to complete the commercialization technology roadmap within June and begin planning large-scale research and development (R&D) projects in connection with demand-side companies."

He also expressed the government's policy to accelerate the early commercialization of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) based on the Special Act on the Promotion and Support of Small Modular Reactor Development, which is set to take effect in September. Furthermore, he stated that the government will actively support the development and field testing of technologies such as on-sensor AI—which integrates sensor and artificial intelligence technologies—actuators for humanoid robots, and secondary batteries.

"Future growth engines for economic revitalization must begin in the regions," Deputy Prime Minister Koo said. "Starting next week, I will personally visit the '5-hub, 3-special' regions across the country to identify localized growth engines and provide systematic support."

Amid a series of large-scale casualties from incidents such as the fire at the Anjeon Industrial plant in Daejeon and the explosion at the Hanwha Aerospace Daejeon site, the government also announced at the meeting that it would launch a massive fire safety inspection of factories and warehouses nationwide.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.