South Korean parliament passes bills to allow lay-offs

South Korea's parliament has passed a controversial package of laws which will give businesses more freedom to make redundancies.

The reforms were required by the International Monetary Fund as a condition for nearly sixty-billion dollars worth of emergency loans to help South Korea overcome its economic problems.

It's taken two weeks for the laws to pass through the National Assembly.

Over this time the unions first agreed to the reforms, then called a strike over them.

The strike was abandoned due to fears of affecting international confidence in the economy.

The BBC Seoul correspondent says that the fact the reforms have been passed is an important achievement for the government.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service