South Korea battles unemployment woes

The number of discouraged workers in South Korea totalled 583,000 in June, an increase of 46,000 year-on-year, registering the highest tally for the month since the state statistics office began compiling the data in 2014. 

Those in their 20s and 30s accounted for 46.8% of the total discouraged workers in the month, up 8.2 percentage points from the year before, according to figures from Statistics Korea.

Discouraged workers refer to those who have not attempted to search for jobs in the last four weeks although they are eligible for employment and willing to work. This could be due to a lack of suitable job roles or other reasons. 

The number of young jobseekers preparing for job recruitment exams registered a record high of 859,000 in May, up 55,000 year-on-year, according to separate official data. 

The figure accounts for 19.1% of 4.49 million economically inactive people aged 15-29, and marks the highest record since the agency started tracking related data in 2006.

READ: Young South Koreans taking job exams hit record high

Although the government has spent over 20 trillion won (US$17.3 billion) annually to fund job creation programmes, most of the jobs created have been lower-paid part-time and temporary roles filled by senior citizens, writes The Korea Herald.