"Some politicians are talking about creating a certain amount of jobs, but such remarks are misguiding," Ahn said, apparently targeting Moon Jae-in, former head of the main opposition Democratic Party who has been leading polls among presidential hopefuls.

"The government and the political circle should focus on establishing foundations so that companies and the private sector can create jobs and for the economy to grow," Ahn said. Moon earlier pledged to create some 810,000 jobs led by the public sector.

Ahn said increasing the number of ventures cannot increase the number of jobs on the market.

"Most jobs are created not by conglomerates, but by small companies growing into middle-sized or large enterprises," Ahn said, claiming that bolstering start-ups is not a solution as they are more likely to fail than established players. (Yonhap)