South Korea plans to speed up spending the employment-related budget in the first half of 2023 amid signs of a slowdown in the job market, the finance minister said Wednesday.

The remark came after Asia's No. 4 economy reported the largest number of job additions in more than 20 years in 2022 at around 820,000, while the figure is expected to rise at a narrower margin of just 100,000 on-year in 2023 amid economic uncertainties and the country's falling population.

"Considering the economy and the slowing job market, the government plans to execute at least 70 percent of this year's employment-related budget of 14.9 trillion won ($11.4 billion) in the first half," Finance Minister Choo Kyung-ho said ahead of a closed-door meeting with economic ministers.

Choo added that South Korea plans to provide jobs to around 1.04 million people in the economically vulnerable group, with a goal of hiring 88.6 percent of them by the end of this month.

""As the country is expected to feel the effects of the slowdown in the job market following a slower increase in the number of jobs and the overall economic slowdown, the government plans to expedite policy measures to secure jobs," the minister added. (Yonhap)