Youth employment. As shown in Figures 11.13 and 11.14, the low employment
rate and high unemployment rate of youths in the Republic of Korea are other
important issues related to inclusive growth strategies. Indeed, the employment
rate for young men is the lowest in the OECD. This is explained to some extent
by high enrollment in tertiary education and 2-year military service obligation for
men. However, the higher unemployment rate for youths is not easily explainable.
A possible explanation is that there is a mismatch between the kind of jobs that the
job seekers are looking for and the kind of workers that the firms are looking for.
For example, youths with a tertiary degree might be looking for high-wage jobs,
although there are only a few such jobs available.