High unemployment, sluggish job growth and a widening wealth gap.<br />Some of problems Korea has been facing for some time now.<br />Which is why Korea's top economic policymakers met to work on turning things around, with renewed determination.<br />Ko Roon-hee starts us off with the highlights from that session. <br /> South Korea's finance chief says the government will do its utmost to resolve high unemployment and uneven income distribution in the country.<br />At an economic-related ministers' meeting on Monday, Kim Dong-yeon said job data and unequal income distribution have worsened and he vowed to swiftly implement policies announced in July and August to support the self-employed and those in the lower income classes.<br /><br /> The policymakers also discussed measures to create jobs for people in their 50s and 60s.<br />The Ministry of Employment and Labor said it will make more people in that age group eligible for the government's employment subsidies.<br />The subsidies took effect this January,... providing around three-hundred-fifty U.S. dollars a month to medium-sized companies and seven-hundred-and twenty dollars to small firms when they hire a person in their 50s or 60s.<br />And they get the benefit for up to a year.<br /> The ministry said it will raise the number of people on the program within this year from the current 2-thousand to 3-thousand… and, by next year, to 5-thousand. <br />The subsidy will also cover 29 additional types of work compared to when it started.<br />The plan is to spend, in total, around 24-point-6 million U.S. dollars next year.<br /><br /> The chiefs of economy-related ministries also vowed to increase investment in social overhead capital related to people's everyday lives.<br />This means building more cultural, sports, and welfare facilities for job creation and expanding the number of urban regeneration projects in parts of the country that are more run-down.<br /> The government believes this will not only stimulate regional economies but also improve people's quality of life. <br />For those projects, next year's budget will include around 7-point-81 billion U.S. dollars,… which is a fifty-percent increase from this year. <br />Ko Roon-hee, Arirang News. <br />
