Local governments slash over 9,700 positions

SEOUL, Jan 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's metropolitan and provincial governments
cut nearly 10,000 civil servant positions last year in line with President Lee
Myung-bak's bid to cut costs and run a smaller government, officials said Sunday.
A total of 9,727 positions in 237 local government bodies were permanently
removed in 2008, according to the Ministry of Public Administration and Security.
The number of job cuts in regional governments represents almost 94 percent of
the 10,360 job cuts recommended by the central government in May, the ministry
said.
"The government plans to continue to transform regional governing bodies into
entities that can produce good results while running an efficient organization
and workforce," a ministry official said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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