The number of nonregular workers at South Korea's public institutions rose in the second quarter from three months ago despite the government's push to cut them, with over half of them posting gains, government data showed Monday.

According to the government portal All Public Information in One, temporary employees at 355 public organizations stood at 39,681 as of the end of June, up 1,765 from the first quarter.

Of the total, 180 institutions, or 50.7, hired more nonregulars during the three-month period, with their combined number of increased temps reaching 2,508.
 

In contrast, 108 public agencies reported a combined decline of 743 nonregular workers, with the remaining 67 institutions registering no changes.

Most of the second-half increases were temporary jobs created according to the government's anti-unemployment and welfare policies, according to ALIO.

The Korea Copyright Protection Agency reported the largest increase of 294 temps in the second quarter as it offered temporary jobs for physically handicapped people, college graduates and women who lost their former jobs.

Among public corporations, the Korea Land & Housing Corp. chalked up the biggest gain in the number of temps with 86 during the second quarter.

The second-half increase comes despite President Moon Jae-in's pledge to remove all nonregular jobs in the public sector during his five-year term as part of his signature job creation campaign. Moon, who took office in May, has promised to create 810,000 new quality jobs in the public sector over the next five years. (Yonhap)