South Korea plans measures to create 30,000 jobs in first half

By Cynthia Kim and Christine Kim

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's finance minister on Wednesday said the government will take measures to create about 30,000 jobs within the first half of the year, to counter worsening employment market sentiment and weak domestic demand.

This comes at a time when corporate restructurings of the so-called "oversupplied industries" of shipping, shipbuilding, steel, construction and petrochemicals are ongoing. The finance ministry sees around 56,000-63,000 workers in the shipbuilding sector alone being affected between end-2015 to end-2017.

"We will pre-emptively respond to changes to come in the job market," said Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho. He was speaking at a meeting with other ministers in Seoul.

Fresh policy measures to counter weakening job growth amid corporate restructuring "will be prepared in March", he said, adding the government would look to increase the number of job fairs for young South Koreans.

In 2016, the unemployment rate in South Gyeongsang Province, where the country's shipbuilding and shipping businesses are concentrated, rose to 3.3 percent from 2.6 percent in 2015.

The headline jobless rate ticked up to 3.7 percent in South Korea in 2016, from 3.6 percent in 2015. The employment rate stood at 60.4 percent at end-2016, versus 60.3 percent in 2015.

"Although the number of those employed and the overall employment rate rose amid difficult circumstances last year, there is still a need for the improvement of the quality of jobs," the ministry said in a separate statement.

Asia's fourth-largest economy also still needs to boost the employment of women in their 30s and 40s, who tend to quit their jobs due to childbirth or childcare, the statement said.

The ministry also expressed concern the unemployment rate could jump as the economic recovery slows and companies refrain from hiring new workers as more businesses are required this year to implement the new retirement age of 65, which has been adopted by companies in a staggered process over recent years.

(Reporting by Cynthia Kim and Christine Kim; Editing by Himani Sarkar)