In these tough economic times, the number of young Koreans who begin their working lives in unstable, short-term jobs has skyrocketed.

Data from Statistics Korea shows the number of people under 30 who stay at temporary jobs increased by nearly 60 percent between 2008 and 2012.

Around half a million young people were on contracts shorter than one year in their first jobs in 2008. But in four years, that number swelled to 800,000. At the same time, the number of young workers who secured permanent positions fell by around 12 percent.

Experts say the trend shows that the quality of employment in Korea is rapidly deteriorating and could hamper future growth.