Korea ranked 100th out of 184 countries in economic freedom of labor market, according to an analysis done by U.S. think tank the Heritage Foundation.
Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF) released a report by the Heritage Foundation that analyzes the economic freedom index of businesses and individuals from 184 countries. The annual analysis hands out economic freedom scores in 12 subjects categorized by Rule of Law, Government Size, Regulatory Efficiency and Open Markets.
In overall score, Korea came 17th spot, three steps down from the previous year, and was handed a "Mostly Free" grade.
In Labor Freedom, however, one of three subcategories under Regulatory Efficiency, Korea received 56.4 points, the lowest out of all 12 subjects, to rank in 100th spot, 13 steps down from the previous year's 87th spot.
Labor Freedom scores depreciate when regulations of working hours, employment and layoffs are considered rigid.
"Korea's rigid labor regulations were found to be deteriorating the labor market's efficiency," the KEF said in a release.
Korea's Labor Freedom score was the lowest among G7 countries except for Germany.
BY JIN EUN-SOO [jin.eunsoo@joongang.co.kr]
