hankyoreh

President Lee Myung-bak meets and talks to the chairmen of the nation’s top business groups at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (KCCI) headquarters in Seoul, Aug. 31.

A total of 26 chairmen from the top 30 conglomerates attended the meeting. From right, Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, GS Chairman and Federation of Korean Industries Chairman Huh Chang-soo, President Lee, Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik and Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong-koo.

The 30 leading groups released a saying statement that they have decided to hire a combined 124,000 new employees by the end of this year, a 12.7 percent increase from the 110,000 recruits in 2010. They also said among the fresh hires, 35,000 will be high school graduates without no college degrees.

The Lee administration has recently made verbal calls for large corporations to expand new jobs and investments demanding them to show more social responsibility.

(Cheong Wa Dae photo pool, Story by Ahn Chang-hyun)