Tens of thousands of young Koreans dropped out of the rat race and became economically inactive this year, and three out of 10 say they cannot find jobs that appeal to them.
According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, 2.32 million out of the country's 16.2 million economically inactive people in August said they have been "resting for no particular reason," i.e. they are not studying, pregnant, ill or looking after kids or elderly relatives.
Among those who are resting, 384,000 are in their 20s and 292,000 in their 30s, up by 28,000 and 38,000 from last year. Last year the number of economically inactive young people fell by 127,000 when businesses started hiring again after lockdown ended, only to increase again this year.
This is the first time Statistics Korea has provided reasons for resting by age groups. Some 37.3 percent across all age groups are resting due to poor health, but among people aged 15 to 29, the proportion fell to 18.2 percent and among 30-somethings to 30 percent.
Instead, 30 percent said they are resting at home because they could not find jobs that suited their tastes.
