Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said on Thursday that the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to have a bigger impact on the nation's real economy and employment in the second quarter.

Hong presented the grim outlook in his opening remarks for a meeting of economy-related ministers.

The minister's remarks came shortly after the Bank of Korea said the South Korean economy shrank one-point-four percent on-quarter in the first quarter, marking the largest such contraction since the fourth quarter of 2008.

Hong assessed that the recovery trend seen briefly since late last year in exports and investment somewhat offset the economic shock of the coronavirus outbreak in the first quarter. 

However, he projected a larger impact on the real economy and employment in the second quarter, vowing all-out efforts to ride out the downside risks in the second quarter and post recovery in consumption and exports in the second half of the year.