South Korea facing worst labor market crisis since 1997

As dreams fade for young, Moon calls for 900,000 publicly funded jobs by Q1

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, in a Feb. 5 speech, says South Korea’s unemployment crisis is the worst since the 1997 financial crunch.

SOTARO SUZUKI, Nikkei staff writer

February 21, 2021 13:30 JST

SEOUL -- The prolonged novel coronavirus outbreak has dealt a body blow to the labor market in South Korea, causing the number of people in paid employment to plunge by nearly 1 million in January alone.

The current unemployment crisis is the worst since South Korea's financial crunch of 1997, President Moon Jae-in said Monday, pledging that his administration would take all possible measures to cope with it. But government-led efforts to create jobs have their limits.