South Korea successfully kept alive its growth momentum in 2014, despite some difficult challenges at home and abroad, the country's top economic policymaker claimed Tuesday.
   
In a meeting with reporters, Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said the sinking of the Sewol ferry in April that resulted in the loss of more than 300 people was a huge shock to the economy.
   
"The incident was such a shock that consumption was effectively halved," he pointed out.
  
He added while slower than expected the global economic recovery and uncertainty in the worldwide financial markets, especially in the second half, all tempered growth.
  
"While there were difficulties and there were things that could have been handled better, the country's growth did rise at a faster clip than the global average this year," he said, hinting this is an achievement. The last time South Korea's growth outpaced the world average was four years ago.
   
The finance ministry expects Asia's fourth-largest economy to grow 3.4 percent this year from 3 percent reached in 2013. For the new year, it anticipated growth to hit 3.8 percent. The International Monetary Fund said the world economy as a whole should advance 3.3 percent this year and 3.8 percent in 2015.
   
He then said that although not everyone is pleased, employment figures were up with the number of newly hired workers growing by some 530,000 annually. The official said that a record 80,000 new companies were created this year, another sign that vibrancy may be returning to the market.
   
"All these numbers indicate that the economy is trying to move up," the policymaker claimed.
   
The minister, who doubles as the deputy prime minister, added that the real estate market seems to be entering a normalization period with ownership of more than 1 million homes changing hands this year. 
   
He said that while people living in rental homes are being burdened by owners asking for monthly rent instead of the traditional "jeonse," or lump sum deposits, for home leases, this seems to be a market trend that needs to be accepted.
   
On discontentment in the labor market, the minister stressed that Seoul is committed to reducing the number of non-regular workers and expanding social welfare, as well as enhancing flexibility of the labor market as a whole.
  
"Everyone needs to make concessions to find middle ground on employment," Choi said.
   
In the new year, he said every effort will be made to push for reforms aimed at bolstering the competitiveness of the national economy as a whole.
   
"There are challenges that must be tackled, but there is no need to be overly pessimistic," he said, adding the government's goal in 2015 will lay the foundation for sustainable growth. (Yonhap)