Finance Minister Yoo Il Ho Vows To Tackle South Korea's Youth Unemployment Crisis Head-On, Create 350,000 New Jobs By Year's End

On Monday, South Korean Finance Minister Yoo Il Ho took full responsibility for his country's worsening youth unemployment crisis, promising to create 350,000 new jobs targeted at young people by the end of the year.

"I feel deeply responsible and sorry for the toughened job market for graduating young adults," Yoo Il-ho said in a videoconference with economic ministers from Seoul and Sejong, according to the Yonhap News Service.

"The government will put its policy priority on job creation and newly create 350,000 jobs before this year is out."

The unemployment rate among South Koreans between the ages of 15 and 19 is at an all-time high, according to a new report last week by Statistics Korea, the country's official data agency.  The 12.5 unemployment rate for teens is a 1.4 percent increase from last year,  the Korea JoongAng Daily reports. Yoo's agency has pushed for more flexible hiring practices, which some labor groups claim it would make it easier for companies to terminate workers.

One major reason for the hiring slowdown is that shipments of goods leaving South Korea have decreased for the last 14 months. In an export-based economy like South Korea, the sharp decline has many executives nervous. A recent Federation of Korean Industries study found more than 100 large companies had yet to decide on recruitment strategies for the first half of 2016, due to being uncertain about the future of the national economy.

Yoo, who is also South Korea's deputy prime minister for economic affairs, called on the nation's parliament to fast-track bills on corporate workforce and labor reform that have been held up due to political gridlock.

"The rising jobless rate among young adults is driven by structural problems in the labor market," he said.

"The government is working hard to solve the youth unemployment issue, but the National Assembly has hampered our efforts."