With regard to the controversy over the reduction in personnel at public corporations, Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Lee Dong-kwan on Tuesday (Dec. 9) said "The reform goal of public corporations is to make them streamlined and efficient. Any percentage readjustment to 10 percent or 15 percent for personnel reduction is a mere tentative plan, never the ultimate goal of their reform.”

In the daily press briefing, the presidential spokesman further said, "If you are to restructure a corporation, you may have to cut 15 or 8 percent of workforce. In another extreme case, you may, on the contrary, have to employ more personnel."

Touching on the enormous amounts of government funding spent on public corporations, the presidential spokesman urged them to enhance their own competitive edge to make themselves streamlined and efficient.

Citing private enterprises'' efforts to survive as they follow market principles, the spokesman emphasized the importance of taking different measures for public corporations to make them efficient.