Data showed the quality of jobs in South Korea has worsened over the past decade following the 2008 global financial crisis.

According to a new report released Monday by the Korea Economic Research Institute(KERI), the number of South Koreans working part-time, or less than 30 hours a week, totaled three-point-22 million in 2018, up 49 percent from two-point-17 million recorded in 2008.

The growth rate was more than three times the 14-point-nine-percent average for seven countries with a per-capita gross domestic product of at least 30-thousand dollars and a population of 50 million or more. This includes South Korea, Japan, the United States, France, Italy, Germany and Britain.

Japan placed second with 26-point-six percent, followed by Italy with 13-point-three percent, France with 12-point-three percent and Britain with nine-point-nine percent.

Part-time workers accounted for for 12-point-two percent of South Korea's total workforce in 2018, up from nine-point-three percent ten years earlier.

KERI attributed the fast rate of increase to a steep hike in the minimum wage, the country's rigid labor market and weaker corporate room for employment.