South Korea's top economic policymaker said Thursday that the government will take steps to maintain current growth momentum through next year, following the latest data, which showed Asia's fourth-largest economy is expected to reach its growth target of 3 percent in 2017.

Earlier in the morning, the Bank of Korea said the economy expanded a solid 1.4 percent in the July-September period from the previous quarter, marking the fastest quarterly growth in seven years.

The BOK forecast country's annual economic growth will reach 3.15 percent even if the economy expands only 0.20 percent in the fourth quarter.

"I heard that many people are still struggling despite strong growth in the third quarter," Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon said in a meeting with leaders of Won Buddhism. "The government predicted the economy will grow 3 percent this year. We will strive to repeat the feat in 2018."

The policymaker said he will look into microeconomic plans in order to have the economic upturn lead to job creation and help people share the fruits of growth.

The South Korean government earlier forecast a 3 percent growth for both 2017 and 2018, while the central bank predicted a 2.9 percent gain in 2018. (Yonhap)