PRIME TIME NEWS 22:00
The Korean government pledges to take the legislative initiative….after labor,... management... and government representatives fail to reach an agreement on labor reform last night.
Rival parties discuss a variety of issues,... including improving inter-Korean ties…as Korea′s parliamentary audit entered its second day.
The Bank of Korea keeps its key rate unchanged for the third straight month... at a record-low....one-and-a-half percent.

Hello... and welcome to Prime Time News... on this Friday, September 11th.
I′m Hwang Ji-hye.
And I′m Daniel Choy.
Thanks for joining us.
Title: Government increases push for labor market reform bill to be passed
We start with Korea′s push for labor market reform.
The government says... some unresolved issues will NOT stop the legislative process for the reforms.
It′s upping the pressure on both labor and management... as they failed to reach an agreement by its set deadline: YESTERDAY.
Kwon Soa reports.
No more delays.
Korea′s Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan announced Friday that the government will push ahead with passing a labor reform bill.
Choi stressed the importance of solving the youth-unemployment issue and alleviating problems related to non-regular workers,... through new reforms.

"What′s needed at this point is for the labor side to put aside its vested interests for the sake of creating jobs for young people."
The implementation of a wage-peak system that would guarantee employment until retirement,... but with lower wages after a specific age, should help boost those efforts.
The finance minister also urged labor unions of big companies to refrain from walkouts demanding wage hikes,... which are disrupting talks on the labor market revision.
Choi′s announcement came after a meeting among government, labor and management representatives yielded no results,... failing to meet the September 10th deadline.

"The main issues of contention surround legislative issues regarding the changing of employment rules and terminating labor contracts."
The latter would refer to firing underperforming workers,... to raise productivity at businesses.
The committee decided on continuing discussions Saturday,...but the government claims further delays could make it difficult for the law to be passed this year.

The government vowed to go ahead with legislative proceedings with the ruling Saenuri Party next week,... regardless of the outcome of Saturday′s meeting,...
However, the finance minister added that that all progress made thus far would be taken into consideration.
Kwon Soa, Arirang News.
Title: Rival parties seek ways to improve South-North economic cooperation
On the second day of the parliamentary audit... inter-Korean issues dominated the agenda…as rival party lawmakers sought ways to improve relations between Seoul and Pyongyang.
Ji Myung-kil reports.
The ruling Saenuri Party stressed the importance of strengthening economic

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