Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon says it is difficult to say that the slump in the labor market for February and March resulted from the rise in minimum wage. 

Kim made the assessment on Monday during a meeting of economy-related ministers in Seoul. 

The minister said that the current employment situation doesn't look good, pointing out that the growth in the number of people with jobs remained in the 100-thousand range and the youth unemployment rate had worsened in February and March.  

Kim blamed the sluggish figures to a base effect and restructuring in the shipbuilding and automobile industries.

On the troubled South Korean unit of U.S. automaker General Motors(GM), Kim vowed to discuss swift due diligence and normalization of operations, citing that subcontractors of GM Korea are increasingly facing hardship. 

He then called on the automaker’s labor and management to promptly reach a compromise in line with the principle of sharing the burdens of interested parties.