Last month, South Korea saw a record high number of young people aged 15 to 29 who were not engaged in education, employment, or training (NEET). The figure reached 443,000, marking an increase of 42,000 compared to the previous year. This trend represents a deepening crisis in the country's labor market, with the number of young NEET individuals surpassing 300,000 for the first time in 2018 and peaking at 441,000 in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although it temporarily dropped to 361,000 in the following year, it has since rebounded. The proportion of young NEETs in the total youth population has risen to 5.4 percent, a significant increase from the early 2010s when it was around 2 percent. The rise in the NEET population has contributed to a decline in the youth employment rate, which fell to 46.5 percent in July, down 0.5 percentage points from the previous year. This downward trend has continued for three consecutive months, leading to a decrease in the overall unemployment rate to 5.5 percent. To address this issue, the Korean government announced a plan to invest nearly 1 trillion won ($738 million) in initiatives aimed at encouraging young NEET individuals to re-enter the job market. The plan involves expanding employment matching services and creating a platform to provide information on internship opportunities. The government has attributed the increase in the youth NEET population to a lack of quality jobs and mismatches in the labor market, while also highlighting the overall strength of the local job market, with the highest employment rate and lowest unemployment rate for any July on record.