Lawmakers from South Korea's ruling party held a meeting on Thursday with officials from the government and the presidential office.
Their talks centered on ways to foster new growth engines and sharply upping investment in promising sectors in a bid to create more high-paying, quality jobs.
Kim Min-ji reports.
The South Korean government will concentrate its efforts on nurturing industries with high growth potential -- which in turn, it hopes, will lead to the creation of quality jobs.
In a policy coordination meeting on Thursday,... the ruling Democratic Party of Korea, the government and the presidential office agreed to step up investment in the country's biohealth, software and intellectual sectors,... especially in line with the so-called fourth industrial revolution.

"We need to foster future growth engines,... and this should be the basis of innovative growth and creating quality jobs. In order to keep up with changing trends,... such as the aging population, the low birth rate as well as developments in technology, we need a more active approach in fostering these industries."

In biohealth, the government plans to support R&D... so cutting-edge technology can be incorporated into the pharmaceutical, medical appliance and cosmetic sectors.
And to help spur the creation of startups,... it will step up investment and expand financial support.
The plan also entails boosting on-site education and training,... especially to nurture specialists in software.
The government will also apply a "regulatory sandbox" -- which will allow firms in these sectors to operate free from regulations for a certain period of time.
It will also create a fund that will be used to invest in outstanding venture companies.
The detailed plan will be unveiled next Tuesday.

The government addressed concerns regarding the country's job market, too,... in light of recent data showing job growth has been sluggish.
Critics claim the government's income-led growth policies are dragging on the economy -- but the government claimed again that it's on the right path,... and its policies will start to bear fruit next year.

"I expect the job market to improve to some degree in the second half. The improvements will come in earnest starting next year, and in the second quarter, the impact of the government's policy will be evident."

In the meantime, the government has vowed to keep close tabs on the economic situation,... and monitor the impact of the policies it's implemented and ensure the positive effects are being felt by the people.
The ruling party, on its part, promised to pass related bills and thoroughly review next year's budget to back the government's policy initiatives.
Kim Min-ji, Arirang News.