The government has decided to consider extending the period of providing special employment assistance for shipbuilders undergoing restructuring.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor held an employment policy deliberation meeting on Tuesday amid the participation of officials of labor and management and related ministries as well as experts.

The ministry unveiled a plan on considering extending the period of special employment assistance which is set to end on June 30th.

Shipbuilding companies designated to receive such assistance are provided greater subsidies if they maintain employment by letting their employees take a paid leave of absence instead of laying them off.

The ministry is mulling the extension as even though the number of new orders secured by shipbuilders has improved in the first quarter, overall recovery continues to be sluggish and employment situations have worsened.

The order backlog for South Korean shipbuilders stood at 17-point-seven million compensated gross tons(CGT) in March, down 36 percent from a year ago.

Source: KBS