Four out of ten startup businesses were found to have closed in just one year.
 
According to a report released by Statistics Korea, 840-thousand-three startups were launched last year, up 12-point-six percent from a year ago.
 
The number of employees in the new startups grew a little over 12 percent to stand at roughly one-point-35 million.
 
The firms accounted for roughly 15 percent of all active companies last year, up one-point-three percentage points from 2013.
 
Meanwhile, the report also found that in 2013, 664-thousand businesses were shuttered, down ten-point-four percent from the previous year. The number of employees at those businesses also shrank a little over eight percent to 970-thousand.
 
As a result, the total number of active businesses last year amounted to nearly five-point-56 million, up three-point-four percent from a year ago.
 
As of 2013, the one-year survival rate of new startups stood at 60-point-one percent, up one percentage point from the previous year. The rate has switched to growth after having witnessed continuous decline since standing at nearly 62 percent in 2008.