Korea to spend 70% of budget for job creation in H1: finance minister

• Published date: 08 March 2023
• Publication title: The Korea Times

Korea plans to speed up spending the employment-related budget in the first half of 2023 amid signs of a slowdown in the job market, the finance minister said Wednesday.

The remark came after Asia's No. 4 economy reported the largest number of job additions in more than 20 years in 2022 at around 820,000, while the figure is expected to rise at a narrower margin of just 100,000 on-year in 2023 amid economic uncertainties and the country's falling population.

"Considering the economy and the slowing job market, the government plans to execute at least 70 percent of this year's employment-related budget of 14.9 trillion won ($11.4 billion) in the first half,"...