South Korea Deputy PM Gu Yoon-cheol defends economy, announces pension and youth job reforms

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Gu Yoon-cheol chaired an emergency economic meeting in Seoul on June 6, responding to a Bloomberg column that labelled South Korea as an "uninvestable" market. Gu asserted that the Korean economy is "more solid than ever and delivering unprecedented results," citing strong growth, exports, price stability and consumer confidence. He said the government will soon unveil reforms to the basic pension and retirement pension systems, and will introduce a "safety‑net" package in the second half of the year. The minister also outlined a plan to train over 200,000 AI‑related specialists by 2030 and to create more than 300,000 jobs for young people, including a new platform to match youth with employment opportunities. Further measures will focus on AI‑driven manufacturing upgrades in semiconductors, steel and petrochemicals to boost competitiveness.