[Anchor Lead]
The government has agreed with the ruling party and the presidential office to allocate more money to creating jobs next year in order to address a serious employment slump. The three parties said they would pull together all of their policy resources to create more jobs.
[Pkg]
Feeling pressured by the poor employment figures, the government, the ruling Democratic Party, and the presidential office first agreed that they realize the gravity of the current situation.
[Soundbite] Kim Dong-yeon (Deputy PM of Economy) : "I see the seriousness of the recent employment situation and feel a heavier responsibility than anyone."
The key to the countermeasure proposed by the three parties that vowed to use all available means, calls for a huge fiscal investment. The execution of this year's employment-related budget and supplementary budget will be expedited, and an extra budget of four trillion won will be allocated as soon as possible.
[Soundbite] Kim Tae-nyeon (Head of Policy Committee, Democratic Party) : "Aggressive fiscal expansion is absolutely necessary since KRW 60 Tn in additional tax revenue is expected to be secured over the next five years."
In the long term, the money will go into supporting job creations in new sectors such as future cars, energy, and bio health, and will be invested in artificial intelligence, hydrogen economy, and other future growth engines. The latest measure implies that since the poor employment situation is not caused by policy error, the government plans to support job creation with the fiscal budget until people's increased income can drive economic growth.
