Korea’s latest employment data presents a paradox that should alarm policymakers. On the surface, the labor market appears to be improving: In February, the number of employed persons rose by more than 230,000 year-on-year, with total employment surpassing 28.4 million. After three months of subdued gains, job growth has rebounded above the 200,000 mark, an indicator that would ordinarily signal resilience. But beneath these encouraging figures lies a far more troubling reality. Youth employment is deteriorating at an alarming pace, exposing structural weaknesses that the headline numbers obscure. The youth employment rate has declined for 22 consecutive months, while the youth unemployment rate climbed to 7.7 percent, the highest level for February since 2021. Even as overall employment expands, young people are being left behind. The scale of the divergence is striking. Over the past year, the number of employed people aged 15 to 29 fell by roughly 140,000, despite only a 2 percent decline in their population. In other words, jobs for young people are disappearing at more than twic