South Koreans Protest Layoffs
About 10,000 workers marched through downtown Seoul on Saturday to protest plans by large companies to lay off workers amid a severe economic recession.
“Guarantee job security!” the protesters chanted as they pumped their clenched fists into the air.
The marchers swarmed out of a park in the center of the South Korean capital and marched along a busy boulevard through two commercial districts, causing traffic jams. No clashes were reported.
Workers accused President Kim Dae Jung of tolerating rising layoffs by South Korea’s struggling conglomerates.
Kim and business leaders say layoffs are inevitable to cut costs in the worst recession in years.
In return for a $58-billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund, Kim changed the labor laws to let businesses fire workers.
Workers say the government should beef up social programs and big businesses should shorten work hours to limit the layoffs.
The government expects the jobless rate to rise to 9% this month, with 2 million people out of work, the highest figure since the government began keeping statistics in 1982.
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