A government policy briefing takes place in Seoul, Dec. 14.

The government in 2010 will focus on creating jobs and stabilizing the economy.

The following is the plans of major government agencies for next year as reported to President Lee Myung-bak in the third week of December. The briefings were attended by key government officials, entrepreneurs, office workers, students and economic experts.

Health, Welfare and Family Affairs Ministry

The plan is to create more than 150,000 jobs through the development of national welfare services.

For one, the ministry will train about 10,000 caregivers to lower nursing costs for the people and increase job opportunities in social services. Caregivers have traditionally been employed in Korea through private transactions.

The number of geriatric care helpers will be raised to 65,000 and 25,000 new jobs will be created at social service centers, including childcare facilities.

The national disease control and prevention system will be improved and overseas patient treatment programs will be fostered.

Gender Equality Ministry
 

Minister of Gender Equality Paik Hee-young emphasizes introduction of ''flexible working hours.

 The ministry will try harder to create a more favorable work environment for women under which they can balance work and childrearing. This will lead to the entry of “purple jobs." The color purple represents balance and harmony between red and blue; men and women; and home and work.

A purple job allows a working parent, especially women, to work when he or she wants to with no fixed office hours. Its primary purpose is to help parents maintain a healthy career and a family. Shorter working hours will be reflected in pay depending on the number of hours worked, but a person''s job will remain secure and he or she could return to full-time work later.

The ministry will also offer 46,000 jobs for women who quit working to take care of their children and their families, and employ 4,600 housewife interns at public and private organizations next year.

In addition, 5,800 women will go through 230 tailored courses on vocational training every year from next year. Immigrant and disabled women will also enjoy more job opportunities.

Labor Ministry

To stimulate the sluggish job market, the Labor Ministry will join hands with the Education, Science and Technology Ministry and the Small and Medium Business Administration to activate the state-run employment service Web site Worknet (www.work.go.kr). Through the online service, graduates of vocational high schools and colleges and 60,000 promising small and medium companies can share job information. The ministry will also assign recruiting counselors to 150 major universities nationwide next year.

With more than seven million baby boomers born from 1955 to 1963 forecast to retire within the next nine years, the Labor Ministry will help them continue working by operating a headhunter service. One thousand social enterprises will be set up by 2012 and conglomerates will be encouraged to reinforce their corporate social responsibilities.

Strategy and Finance Ministry

The Korean economy has been recovering faster than other advanced economies thanks to government stimulus measures. Consumer sentiment remains low, however, due to insufficient corporate investment and low employment. The Strategy and Finance Ministry plans to maintain its expansionary fiscal policy and spend 60 percent of the government budget in the first half of next year.

To facilitate corporate investment, deregulation and the setup of a venture fund worth 3.5 trillion won are planned. To be established by 2012, the fund will be used to foster new growth engines, including the IT and eco-friendly sectors.

In addition, 762 trillion won will be disbursed to stabilize the livelihood of low-income, multicultural and single-parent families and the disabled.

The early economic warning system will also be improved while the emergency economic management committee will be maintained to further stabilize the domestic financial and foreign exchange markets.

Fair Trade Commission

The commission will overhaul next year entry regulations in finance, distribution, health care, energy and other service sectors that greatly affect the people. To prevent monopoly and oligopoly, a thorough review will be done on unfair business practices in the course of large mergers and acquisitions and unreasonable price-cut demands of conglomerates will be monitored.

The commission will also tighten monitoring of both domestic and international cartels of products closely related to the people''s lives, such as daily necessities, raw material, and industrial equipment. A strict crackdown is planned on unfair support by large conglomerates to their subsidiaries.

To prevent franchises from enticing franchisees with false and exaggerated information, a standard franchising contract for each industry will be distributed to enhance fairness in the industry.

Financial Services Commission

The commission will strengthen support for low-income households by operating Smile Microcredit Bank and making it a globally recognized example of an exemplary microcredit organization. It will also revitalize microcredit lending through tax breaks for microcredit organizations and easing loan transfers.

Programs for personal debt restructuring will continue for delinquent individuals through interest exemptions and maturity extensions. Financial services will be made more accessible to mid- to low-income households by expanding fixed-rate loans, alleviating interest charges, and launching various base-rate loans.