Data show the number of long-term unemployed people in Korea has climbed steadily each year... to reach a peak in 2018.
According to Statistics Korea,... the number of people unemployed long-term,... meaning for at least six months,... rose last year to 154-thousand,... some nine-thousand more than the year before.
It's even higher than at the height of the global financial crisis.
In response to dismal employment figures released last week... the nation's finance chief announced the government's plans to create more jobs this year by revitalizing private investment and the service sector.
