[THE INVESTOR] The head of Lotte Group promised on May 25 that he will expand hiring down the road, in a step with the new government‘s key policy initiative to create more jobs to tackle alarming youth unemployment. 

“As there’s a saying that ‘employment is the best kind of welfare,’ I will strive to expand recruitment,” Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin said in a statement released ahead of the group’s annual meeting with its labor union.

His remark comes amid a strong drive being pushed by President Moon Jae-in who pledged to create more “quality jobs” that are stable and push forward measures that will help switch many temporary positions to full-time jobs.

Korea’s unemployment rate stood at 4.2 percent in April, with the jobless rate of people aged between 15 and 29 recording 11.2 percent, the second-highest level tallied so far.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)