Labor Minister Lee Ki-kweon has strongly criticized Seoul City’s program to provide cash allowances for young job seekers.

Lee on Monday said during a meeting with reporters in Sejong City that if chiefs of all local governments promise to provide such cash subsidies, it could undermine the backbone of the central government’s youth employment policies.

The minister said after being run as a pilot program, the number of beneficiaries of the plan is supposed to increase to 500-thousand, but there is a limit on how taxpayers' money can be spent by the local and central governments.

He said that if the city leads job seekers to give up the central government’s youth employment program to receive the cash allowances, it would be depriving them of a great opportunity.

The central government’s employment program provides job counseling and other support for young job seekers under the age of 34 for one-point-seven years on average.

So far, 38 job seekers canceled their applications for the program after the Seoul City announced that it would not provide allowances for applicants of the program.