Middle-aged workers feel pinch of economic downturn
(WorldNews South Korea)

Men in their 50s who live alone join a self-help lesson prepared by Seoul`s Yangcheon District to give them tips for employment and hobbies. Korea Times file South Koreans have long joked that the nation`s unofficial retirement age is 45. Since the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis forced South Korea to receive an emergency bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund in return for a painful restructuring of its banks and corporate sectors, middle-aged workers here have faced greater instability in their jobs. The expression `saojeong` literally means that middle-aged salarymen are forced to retire at the age of 45. Although the term has been common over the past two decades, people in...