South Korea issued employer guidelines on Wednesday aimed at ending discrimination against women based on age and appearance, as a survey revealed such discrimination was a common practice.

Korea's employment laws strictly prevent any type of discrimination, but some sublevel ordinances state that appearance can be considered in recruiting government workers.

Most employers, private and public, customarily demand information on age, height and weight along with a photograph of the applicants and their resume.

With the new equality policy, such discriminatory ordinances will be abolished, and a recommended form of resume without a photo or age information will be distributed nationwide, the Labor Ministry said.

"This is a statement that the government will be open and fair, at least by law. But that won't be all. It will first make the legal system better without reference to appearance and age, then create a supportive system to implement it," said Ryu Gyeong-hi, a ministry spokesman.

It requires consultation with the parliament and finally the approval of President Roh Moo-hyun to abolish the ordinances, which the ministry expects will take about six months.

The overwhelming majority of Koreans believe appearance counts in employment, according to government surveys conducted between April and June.

Nine out of 10 adults said "pretty women" have a better chance at landing a job, and four out of five human resources staff said they prefer good looks.

Nearly half of public organizations, or 46.7 percent, and 38.8

percent of private enterprises said they count appearance in interview assessments.

Given the societal trend, South Korean college women were at the top, along with their Japanese peers, in making efforts to lose weight, according to a study of 22 countries by the International Journal of Obesity in Britain.

A woman in her 20s committed suicide in July, frustrated by her weight, and another woman in her 30s killed herself after not being able to find a job with her foreign doctoral degree.

Of the total female population in South Korea, 54.5 percent are in the workforce.

The Labor Ministry came up with the equality policy after President Roh Moo-hyun gave it a directive to recruit more women in the workplace.

In the current law, employers that practice discrimination based on appearance are subject to a fine of 5 million won (US$5,000).

Seoul, Dec. 27 (Yonhap News)