Data showed South Korea's young workers were hit hardest by the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

According to the analysis of state job data by Yonhap News on Wednesday, about 417-thousand South Koreans aged 15 to 39 lost their jobs in April in the wake of the initial outbreak. 

The figure is much larger than the 333-thousand jobs lost among Koreans in their 40s and 50s. In contrast, the number of employed people aged 60 or older increased by 274-thousand.

In September, following another large outbreak in mid-August which led to Level Two-point-Five social distancing, the number of employed people in the 15 to 39 age group plunged by 502-thousand. 

In comparison, jobs for those in their 40s and 50s decreased by 309-thousand, while the number of employed workers aged 60 or older increased by 419-thousand.