With job market growth at the lowest it's been since the global financial crisis,... the ruling party, government and top office got together today.... to find the root cause of the situation and look at ways to tackle the issue.
Kim Min-ji reports.
Pulling out all the stops to prop up job growth.
That's the consensus reached by the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, the government and the presidential office,... as the three sides met for an unprecedented meeting on Sunday to address the ailing employment situation.

"The three sides agreed to give job growth the utmost priority. We will use all possible means to tackle the situation. First, we will keep close tabs on any job creation projects and the execution of the government's supplementary budget. We also plan to push for a financial support package worth roughly 4 billion U.S. dollars."

The emergency meeting came as data for July showed the worst job growth in over eight years -- since the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
That's dealt a blow to the Moon Jae-in administration, which has prioritized job creation since it took the helm last year.
Noting that there are various reasons for the poor conditions,... including a smaller working population and corporate restructuring,... the three sides said they will work continuously to come up with a range of measures customized for each sector... as well as get rid of red tape that hinders new industries,... and pave the way for job creation in the private sector.
They also vowed to take expansionary measures... by increasing the budget for job creation in 2019 by more than this year's hike of 12-point-6 percent.

"Even if we can only create a single job, we will do our best... through financial means, by easing regulations, and by addressing changes in the job market. The first thing is to execute the job creation projects we have now... and to increase next year's budget."

For the meantime, the government will announce a set of support measures for owners of small business and the self-employed in the coming days... as well as implement supplementary measures to cushion the negative impact of the minimum wage hike.

"We're communicating and we're coming up with ways to lessen the burden on the self-employed. Next year's budget will also be implemented to revitalize regional economies,... and improve the quality of people's lives. We will also actively push for policies that increase incomes and job growth for young people, the elderly and those in the low-income bracket."

"The three sides also vowed to thoroughly review the related policies and measures implemented so far,... and assess whether they've brought about the desired effects -- and if not, said they will be subject to amendment or improvement. Kim Min-ji, Arirang News."