President Moon Jae-in on Thursday highlighted the role of the private sector in job creation, admitting to the shortcomings of his administration’s related policies so far. 

Speaking at a meeting of the job creation committee held at SK hynix’s new plant in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, Moon said job creation is ultimately up to the private sector and the government must play a supporting role.

“(The administration) has yet to succeed in increasing the number of jobs. In particular, sluggish investment and job creation in the private sector continues,” Moon said, adding that the administration cannot avoid criticism for failing to resolve “structural difficulties” the country’s economy faces.

Moon went on to say that the government must focus on facilitating the private sector’s investment, and on developing new growth engines. He also highlighted projects the job creation committee has drawn up.

The projects number some 140 in the fields of future automotive technologies, semiconductors, smart appliances, renewable energy and bio-health. According to the government’s projections, the projects would create over 92,000 jobs. The total investment target for the projects stands at about 125 trillion won ($110 billion), but with only a small fraction coming from the government.

“The measures are not led by the government, (the role of the government) is to support private sector projects. The government should become a helper who facilitates corporations’ activities and resolves difficulties,” Moon said, as he called on government officials to develop “one-stop” support plans.

Moon also stressed the need to reform regulations to nurture new industries and called on the government to introduce measures such as temporary licenses for pilot projects.

The president added that the government must establish an “industry ecosystem” to help the new projects take off, and lay the groundwork for an environment beneficial to both small and medium-sized enterprises and large companies.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)