[Courtesy of Blue House]
Undeterred by a crushing election defeat, South Korean President Park Geun-hye vowed Friday to push ahead with her economic reform package focusing on the introduction of greater labor market flexibility, her office said.
It was Park's first comment on this week's parliamentary election in which her conservative Saenuri Pary failed to win a majority and descended to the second largest parliamentary group.
"I will actively seek to reform the labour market, with a firm conviction that it must be done in spite of various difficulties," Park was quoted as saying at talks with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg at the presidential Blue House.
The election was seen as a test of gauging public sentiment ahead of South Korea's presidential race in December 2017.
Park, who has less than two years left of her five-year term, needs at least 180 seats to fast-track her economic packages including an unapproved labor reform bill. But Saenuri secured 122 seats, far short of a majority in the 300-member assembly while two opposition parties garnered more than 160 seats.
There has been a bitter standoff in parliament over how to reform South Korea's labor market. Workers are afraid of losing important protections, arguing the new bill would result in lower wages and little job security.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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