A member of the Bank of Korea's rate-setting board on Wednesday stressed that the country's policymakers should give more weight to job creation, departing from their long-cherished mantra of bolstering growth in Asia's fourth-largest economy.

The Korean economy has been grappling with a low growth trend in the face of a slowdown in the global economy and structural reforms being pushed at a snail's pace.

"I assume it will be very difficult to recover the high growth rates that were seen in the past due to structural factors that are affecting the economy, on top of external factors," said Chung Hae-bang, one of the seven board members who vote on the central bank's key interest rate each month.

"Growth is aimed at creating more jobs to boost the quantity and quality of employment ... We should think more about the quantity and quality of employment going forward," said Chung, stressing the need to move away from focusing on only the growth rate.

South Korea's economic growth slowed in the second quarter as the country was hit hard by the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome and the worst drought in a century.

The economy grew 0.3 percent in the April-June period, decelerating from a 0.8 percent on-quarter expansion three months earlier. It expanded 2.2 percent on-year, growing at the slowest pace in more than two years.

The labor market situation is also not good, especially for young people, which is forcing the government to reshuffle wage schemes in the public and private sectors.

In the short run, the policy board member mentioned the expected U.S. rate hike as the biggest external risk facing the Korean economy.

He also raised concerns over the Chinese economy and falling commodity prices as other risks that may impact financial volatility and eventually impact the local market. (Yonhap)