S. Korean PM set to tackle unemployment

SEOUL, Dec. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's prime minister instructed the government
Monday to create a special task force dedicated to ameliorating looming fears of
unemployment amid a global economic crisis.
The call by Han Seung-soo at a meeting with ranking officials comes as a string
of companies have announced they will cut jobs next year in the face of gloomy
economic prospects. Experts say the slowdown in South Korea's real economy will
begin in earnest next year, jacking up the unemployment rate and stunting the
country's exports.
"Unemployment is the biggest problem we will face as the financial crisis moves
on to the real economy," Prime Minister Han said. "We must set up a task force to
comprehensively look at problems of unemployment and the labor market." He also
emphasized the need to nurture a quality work force.
Han's office said related ministries will gather soon to devise a body to meet
the call by the prime minister, who warned the economic downturn sparked by a
housing crisis in the United States will affect South Korea's real economy
mainly in the form of job losses.
Seoul's Economy Minister Lee Yoon-ho told foreign correspondents earlier Monday
that his government is bracing for a growth rate of under 3 percent next year, a
figure signaling massive layoffs in the world's 13th largest economy.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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