South Korea's unemployment rate rose to 3.6 percent in January, the first time to turn upward in five years, the National Statistical Office (NSO) reported Wednesday.

With 103,000 jobs shed in January, the unemployment rate in January hit 3.6 percent, up from 3.3 percent of the previous month. The last job contraction was in October 2003 when 189,000 jobs were removed, according to the report.

"The job market is cooling at a speedy pace with economic turmoil," Jeong In-sook, head of the NSO's employment statistics division, told a press conference.

The International Monetary Fund predicted earlier this month that the South Korean economy will shrink 4 percent in 2009. The state-run Korea Development Institute took a similar view and reported that South Korean economy is "in a recessionary phase."

Yoon Jeung-hyun, finance minister of South Korea, presented a grim forecast on South Korean economy, predicting the economy will contract 2 percent in 2009.

He gave a bleak outlook on the nation's job market as well, saying 200,000 jobs will be removed this year.

(Xinhua News Agency February 11, 2009)