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South Korea to slash jobs at public firms

(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-12-22 14:13

SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea plans to slash 13 percent of jobs at public corporations over the next three to four years to improve efficiency and cut costs, the government said Monday.

A total of 19,000 positions at South Korea's 69 public corporations  including power monopoly Korea Electric Power Corp. and national train operator Korea Railroad will be cut over three to four years, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance said on its Web site.

South Korea currently employees 150,000 people at the public firms. President Lee Myung-bak, a former construction industry CEO, has called for streamlining operations and increasing efficiency in the sector. He also wants to cut the number of civil service jobs in the country's government bureaucracy.

The ministry said that the corporations will sell off some of their assets and achieve other cost reductions for a total of 10 trillion won ($7.7 billion) in savings.

The measures are expected to "increase the competitiveness of public corporations and reduce the burden of citizens," the ministry said.