The government is considering measures aimed at easing “inflexibility” in employment at large businesses and public companies as part of its structural reform, a key policy objective to be included in its economy management plan for next year, government sources said Tuesday.It is hoped the measures will make it easier for companies to adjust salaries and working hours for regular workers. An extension of the current two-year contract period for irregular workers to three years will also be incl

The real estate area owned by the top 1 percent of Korean corporations more than doubled during the five years under the Lee Myung-bak government, according to data released by the People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy on Monday.In 2012, the area measured 5,724.84 square kilometers, up from 2,658 square kilometers in 2007; reflecting a 115.3 percent increase, the report showed.The current figure is slightly more than five times the entire area of Seoul City, which measures 605.2 square

Cheongdam-dong is already famous for being one of the richest areas in Seoul. As much as it is home to many Korean business tycoons, a luxurious villa compound is also concentrated in the very region.The area used to be filled with old-fashioned row houses and multi-family bungalows from the late 1990s to early 2000s ― the period when the Asian financial crisis hit the nation.It was Daewoo Engineering & Construction, one of Korea’s leading construction companies, that pushed ahead with a total m