South Korea's finance minister and the head of the Korean central bank met this morning.... with hopes of tackling a number of economic risks.... such as growing U.S.-China trade tensions.... and the country's sluggish job figures.
Won Jung-hwan reports.

Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon and Bank of Korea governor Lee Ju-yeol agreed on Monday to take preemptive measures against a number of risks facing the country's economy.
At their seventh round of policy talks since Kim Dong-yeon took office in June last year,... Kim expressed his concerns that the latest minimum wage increase could be a burden on the Korean economy in the second half of the year.
South Korea's minimum wage for next year has been set at nearly 7-dollar-and-50-cents per hour, up 10-point-9 percent from this year.

The two also shared concerns on the growing external and internal risks to the Korean economy, including the escalating trade tensions between Washington and Beijing, and the country's sluggish job growth figures.
Given that China and the U.S. are Korea's top two trading partners, accounting for 37 percent of Korea's exports,… the BOK chief and finance minister agreed to evaluate the impact of the trade spat on the Korean economy and cooperate through a mix of preemptive monetary and fiscal policies to ensure stable growth.

They also highlighted the need for policies to tackle sluggish job creation.
Between January and June, a monthly average of 142-thousand new jobs were added, the slowest growth since the 2008 global financial crisis.

The talks come a few days after the BOK held its key rate steady for July and lowered its growth forecast for this year by zero-point-one percent to 2-point-9-percent,... and two days before the finance ministry is set to release its economic policy measures for the second half of 2018.
Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.