---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 12 Oct 1998 14:48:18 -0400 (EDT)
From: Robert Weissman <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: Multiple recipients of list STOP-IMF <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Korea's IMF "Rest Centers"
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http://www.smh.com.au:80/news/9810/05/text/world3.html
FWD Sydney Morning Herald - 5 Oct 1998
KOREA: SUBWAY SPOTTERS WORK FOR SELF-WORTH
By John Larkin, Herald Correspondent in Seoul
Unemployed South Koreans are being deployed at subway stations to nab fare
dodgers as the nation scrambles for innovative solutions to worsening
joblessness.
Under the plan, more than 100 newly jobless citizens will patrol 38 subway
stations around Seoul to catch commuters who jump turnstiles or use bogus
tickets.
Fare evasion has been on the rise since an economic recession struck down
the economy early this year, but the real reason for the experiment is to
revive self-worth among the jobless.
Social welfare workers, however, describe the plan and others like it as
piecemeal and unlikely to soak up many of the thousands of homeless and
unemployed men flocking to Seoul.
They sleep at Seoul's main train station or in makeshift tents at city parks.
So-called "IMF rest centres", named for the International Monetary Fund,
which loaned $US58 billion ($93.96 billion) to South Korea last year, have
risen in number from just 46 in April to 190 nationwide this month.
The recession has forced unemployment to record levels and squeezed wages,
placing South Korea's traditionally tight-knit family unit under immense
strain.
A recent survey released by the Presidential Committee on Women's Affairs
revealed nearly 20 per cent of men jobless since December are now divorced
from their wives or are considering divorce.
Another survey of 696 unemployed people by the Institute for Health and
Social Affairs said two-thirds of them had at least one other jobless
person in the family.
But even more disturbing for family-focused Koreans are reports that
cash-strapped couples are casting their elderly parents out onto the street.
This trend is a stab at the heart of the strong obligation on children to
house their aged parents.
A telephone counselling service for the aged reported last week that 14 per
cent of the 1,513 elderly callers since January had inquired about cheap
nursing homes.
