South Korea to streamline state-run firms

South Korea on Sunday announced a plan to streamline state-run companies by slashing jobs, selling properties and saving other costs to alleviate its fiscal deficit.
The strategy and finance ministry said that 69 state-run firms would cut some 19,000 jobs, or 13 percent of the total, in the next three to four years through retirement and early retirement programmes.
It said the job cuts, along with other cost-saving plans, would save 1.7 trillion won (1.33 billion dollars) in the state budget.
The state-run companies also plan to sell their own land or other assets to raise 8.5 trillion won, the ministry said.
The South Korean parliament last week approved a 284.5 trillion won budget for 2009, up almost 11 percent from this year.