Mass Layoffs Dept: “With the lessons taken from the financial crisis in 1997, the Republic of Korea has been able to surmount the global economic crisis rather successfully,” President Lee Myung-bak boasted in a written interview with The , in which he used the official name for South Korea. “The Korean government responded to the crisis by taking bold, pre-emptive measures, which have turned out to be conducive to mitigating the economic downturn and creating jobs.”, according to Globe And Mail. Even as demand collapsed in key markets in North America and Europe, South Korea’s economy kept going strong, while neighbours and competitors like Japan and China were hit hard. Due in large part to a massive $11-billion U.S. stimulus package introduced by Mr. Lee’s government at the outset of the downturn, South Korea not only managed to avoid the sort of mass layoffs that hit other export-reliant economies, but actually added 200,000 jobs last year and the Great Recession that clobbered the United States, Europe and other major economies has been little more than a speed bump in South Korea, particularly compared with the cliff that many South Korean companies plummeted off during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Somewhat immodest words, but based in truth. South Korea, which will co-hosts the G20 summit that opens in Toronto on Friday, has arguably emerged better from the crisis than any other country that will be attending. As
reported in the news.
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23.6.10
