President Park calls for corporate restructuring

President Park Geun-hye stressed the importance of restructuring insolvent companies on Friday by saying, "If you avoid undergoing a surgery out of fear, you could die."

At a meeting on the state fiscal strategy at the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae, Park said that for those who lose their jobs as a result of corporate restructuring, the government should not only provide welfare programs such as unemployment benefits and occupational training but also nurture new industries, ease regulations and implement labor reforms in order to increase jobs. Citing Sweden as a model of a "virtuous circle" among fiscal spending, welfare and economic growth, she said the Swedish model is a "good example" of the government supporting corporate restructuring through job trainings and employment assistance rather than through populist welfare policies.

The president also urged the National Assembly to pass pending bills on promoting the services industry and labor reforms.

She noted that all of the four labor reform bills should be passed all together as they are related with corporate restructuring, dismissing opposition parties' argument for passing three of them first.