Korean Job-Seeking Rate Hits 480,000

According to February estimates, 484,000 people are searching for jobs in Korea.

The National Statistical Office reported on April 11 that 210,000 are attending educational institutes to either prepare for national examinations or undergo job training, while 274,000 are preparing alone.

The number has increased 38,000 (8.5 percent) from the same month in 2005 and is an increase of 151,000 people (45.3 percent) from 2003.

Job hunters are not employed, which means that they do not contribute to the economy and are not included as unemployed.

Choi Yeon-ok, head of the Employment and Welfare Statistics Division, said, “The increased number of job hunters means that the labor force is not being utilized effectively.”

The increased number of job seekers is attributed to increasing instances of leaving a job in search of higher status or salary, as well as a longer period spent in training for a job after graduation.

Sun-Woo Kim sublime@donga.com