Labor Minister Expresses "Heavy Responsibility" Over Decline in Employed Persons, Vows Active Response

Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon stated today (June 11) that he feels a "heavy sense of responsibility" regarding the decline in the number of employed persons last month and vowed to "respond actively."

Minister Kim, who is currently on a business trip to Switzerland and Germany, said in a Facebook post, "As the minister in charge of employment, I am taking the current labor market situation very seriously."

"It appears that the ongoing Middle East war is causing oil price hikes and simultaneously leading to notable difficulties in employment sectors, including manufacturing," Kim said. "I have issued an emergency directive to closely monitor the employment situation by region."

Minister Kim explained, "Since the outbreak of the Middle East war, the government has held weekly emergency employment and labor situation inspection meetings. We are easing the requirements for employment retention subsidies in vulnerable industries such as aviation, plastics, and textiles, and are also supporting regional employment stability through the 'Beutim-Ieum' (Support-Link) budget."

He added, "Moving forward, we will conduct detailed monitoring of employment conditions by industry and region, and will actively consider designating 'regions for preemptive response to employment crises' and 'special employment support industries.'"

He emphasized, "The government will do its utmost to improve the job market situation."

According to the May employment trends released by the National Data Agency today, the number of employed persons aged 15 and older stood at 29.12 million last month, a decrease of 40,000 compared to the same month last year.

This marks the first time in 17 months that the number of employed persons has declined, following the drop recorded in December 2024 (-52,000).

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