SEOUL, June 4 (Yonhap) -- The government said Tuesday it will create nearly 1 million decent part-time jobs by 2017 as part of an effort to boost the country's employment rate by diversifying employment patterns and to give women, adolescents and the elderly more chances to work. It is one of the key measures under the government's comprehensive policy roadmap to raise the employment rate to 70 percent, a main pledge made by President Park Geun-hye during last year's election campaign. The latest government data showed South Korea's employment rate stood at 59.8 percent in April.

WASHINGTON - It seems like a simple proposition: give employees who work more than 40 hours a week the option of taking paid time off instead of overtime pay. The choice already exists in the public sector. Federal and state workers can save earned time off and use it weeks or even months later to attend a parent-teacher conference, care for an elderly parent or deal with home repairs.

SEOUL, March 13 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's average weekly working hours fell to an all-time low in 2012 as local firms reduced production amid an economic slump and new labor rules, data showed Wednesday. South Korean employees of companies with five or more employees put in an average 41.4 hours at work each week last year, compared to 41.9 hours tallied a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.