South Korea's monthly job growth fell to a nine-year low to 149-thousand this year.

According to Statistics Korea on Sunday, the country generated an average of just 149-thousand jobs per month in the first five months of the year, the poorest showing since the global financial crisis in 2009, when 172-thousand jobs were created on average every month.

The monthly employment, which stood at 372-thousand in the January-May period last year, more than halved in a year.

In order for the country to reach the government's annual target of 320-thousand new jobs a month, 442-thousand positions need to be created every month from June through December, which may not be easy.

Besides the weak employment situation, the country's jobless rate hit an 18-year high at four percent last month.