The regions are home to major shipyards, including Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., and automaking-related firms like GM Korea.

Unemployment rates in the regions also remained high.

Gunsan, where GM's money-losing assembly line was shut down in June, reported a jobless rate of 4.1 percent in the first six months of the year, up 2.5 percentage points from a year earlier.

The jobless rate in Geoje, home to the country's major shipyards, including Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., stood at a very high 7 percent in the first six months of the year, up 4.1 percentage points from the year earlier period.

The figure marks the highest jobless rate since 2013, when the country started compiling job data of major cities.

In May, South Korea designated Ulsan, Geoje, Mokpo and several other regions, home to shipbuilders and other manufacturing operations, as emergency response zones so as to provide job support and tax incentives.

The designation came as local shipbuilders have suffered a drawn-out dry spell, which has forced many to slash jobs.

Earlier, the government unveiled a set of support measures, including tax incentives, to help firms reeling from massive restructuring efforts stay afloat. (Yonhap)