New data finds that one out of five unemployed people in the nation were unable to find jobs even after searching for work for more than six months. 

According to Statistics Korea on Tuesday, the number of people without jobs stood at around 564-thousand as of August. 

The state agency’s  Korean Statistical Information Service showed that of the total, 20 percent were so-called “long-term unemployed,” referring to people who were without jobs for more than half a year. 

The percentage is the highest since August of 1999 when the nation was reeling from the Asian financial crisis. 

The number of long-term unemployed saw growth for the sixth consecutive month in August with young adults in their teens, 20s and 30s accounting for more than 55 percent of the total.