President Park Geun-hye pledged Thursday to accomplish structural reforms in four major sectors of the society to revive the economy and create more jobs next year.
"(The government) will firmly root the creative economy and cause the culture to flourish, eventually to revitalize our economy and to create more jobs," Park said in a New Year's video message uploaded on YouTube and posted on her Facebook page.
The government has pushed ahead with structural reforms in four major sectors, including the labor market, and the creative economy initiative as a key growth strategy to boost the lagging economy and provide more jobs for the youth.
The jobless rate among young people between 15 and 29 stood at 8.1 percent in November, much higher than the 3.1 percent unemployment rate for the country as a whole.
Park further noted that she will "complete the four reforms to lay the ground work for our future growth in the next 30 years."
Park has pushed ahead creating more jobs to bolster her reform drive centered on the labor, public, finance and education sectors.
She has explored many avenues, which range from emotional public appeals and direct warnings to lawmakers, to try to push the National Assembly to approve a set of bills meant to revitalize Asia's fourth-largest economy.
"Firm national security is the most fundamental foundation of our nation's growth," Park said.
Park said she will sternly deal with North Korea's provocations while preparing for the reunification of the two Koreas at the same time.
The Korean Peninsula was divided into the capitalistic South and communist North after its liberation from Japan's 1910-45 colonial rule.
Park has made repeated pitches for unification, calling it a "bonanza" for South Korea, as well as a blessing for neighboring countries. (Yonhap)