South Korean President Moon Jae-in sacked his top two economic officials yesterday, the government said, as the world’s 11th-largest economy struggles with slowing growth, rising unemployment and persistent income gaps.

Finance minister Kim Dong-yeon and presidential chief of staff for policy Jang Ha-sung had both been replaced, top Blue House spokesman Yoon Young-chan said in a televised statement.

The pair had reportedly been at odds with each other.

His administration has steeply raised South Korea’s minimum wages, cut working hours and converted temporary staff to permanent in a series of redistributive moves it says will lead to what it calls “income-led growth”.

It is a marked change from the growth model of the past, driven by exports and investments by the South’s major companies, that has seen the South rise to become Asia’s fourth-biggest economy.