Vice Minister Ki Jae: "Minimizing Trade Environment Damage... Preparing Measures Such as Designating Employment Crisis Areas"

Kim Beomseok, First Vice Minister of Economy and Finance, Presides Over Job Task Force
"Preparing to Timely Utilize Available Policy Measures"
Review of Current Status of Youth Job Projects
Ministry of Employment and Labor Requests Cooperation from Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Ministry of SMEs and Startups

Kim Beom-seok, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, stated on the 16th, "We will maintain close communication with industries and local sites closely related to the trade environment and make thorough preparations to timely utilize available policy measures such as designating employment crisis areas to minimize damage."

Vice Minister Kim made these remarks while presiding over a joint task force (TF) meeting on jobs with related ministries. He said, "The trade environment is rapidly changing unpredictably due to the imposition of reciprocal and item-specific tariffs by the United States and China's countermeasures. As concerns over worsening employment sluggishness grow, especially in export industries such as manufacturing, the job task force (TF) will closely monitor employment trends in industries and regions."

Kim Beom-seok, 1st Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance

The meeting was held to review the employment impact of trade risks and discuss future response directions. There was also time to check the progress of youth job and direct job projects and the first-quarter achievements of the corporate employment difficulty resolution hotline.

In the 'Current Status and Future Plans of Major Youth Job Projects' released that day, the Ministry of Employment and Labor announced that it would select and intensively manage six major youth job projects by employment stage, including enrollment, job seeking, and employment. At the enrollment stage, projects such as the University Job+ Center (including the Youth Employment All-Care Platform) and Future Tomorrow Work Experience are focused on; at the job-seeking stage (including those who took a break), the Youth Challenge Support Project is provided; and at the employment stage, the Youth Job Leap Incentive is supported.

Regarding the Future Tomorrow Work Experience project, reflecting the recent preference for experienced hires in the recruitment market, the number of supported participants this year (58,000) was increased by 10,000 compared to last year. New participation from major companies favored by the youth, such as Naver, Kakao, and Hyundai Motor, was also attracted. Improvements were made to actively utilize work experience records during employment by specifying detailed job duties on certificates of completion.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor plans to increase youth participation by promoting various support projects through online and offline platforms until next month. It will closely collaborate with related ministries to identify and support vulnerable youth, including unemployed youth and isolated or reclusive youth. Hong Kyung-ui, Director of Youth Employment Policy at the Ministry of Employment and Labor, said, "Through the job TF, we will specifically inform the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, which are linked to support projects, about cooperation matters."

The first-quarter direct job project recruitment performance by central ministries reached a record high of 1,108,000 on a quarterly basis. The total recruitment plan for this year is 1,239,000, and related ministries have pledged to strive to exceed the first half-year target (1.2 million) to support employment and income stability for vulnerable groups.

Vice Minister Kim said, "We will collect ongoing suggestions from companies so that the employment difficulty resolution hotline becomes a one-stop problem-solving platform," adding, "We plan to hold a regular meeting next month to discuss additional institutional improvement tasks with six economic organizations." He continued, "We will focus the whole-of-government capabilities on creating an environment where companies can actively create jobs."