Anchor: The government has finalized measures to restructure two mid-sized shipbuilding companies that have fallen on hard times. 
Our Bae Joo-yon has more on the measures decided upon for Sungdong Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering and STX Offshore and Shipbuilding Company.

Report: Finance Minister Kim Dong-yeon chaired a meeting of related ministers in Seoul on Thursday and went over restructuring measures for two financially-struggling shipbuilders. 

For Sungdong Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, Kim said court receivership is inevitable while for STX Offshore and Shipbuilding Company, the minister ordered stringent self-rescue efforts. 

Kim said if STX’s management and labor fail to produce an agreement on corporate restructuring and self-rescue efforts within a month, the government will take steps toward court receivership.  

The decision comes after nearly four trillion won in public funds were injected into the two companies over the past eight years. 

The government also decided to provide 240 billion won in liquidity to Tongyeong, South Gyeongsang Province where Sungdong is based and to Gunsan, North Jeolla Province which is likely to suffer from the closure of a General Motors plant. 

The Korea Development Bank(KDB) and the Export-Import Bank of Korea, which are the creditors of the two shipbuilders, announced similar measures in a news conference on Thursday. They said that after conducting two rounds of due diligence on Sungdong, they came to the conclusion that the company would likely yield no profit in the second quarter due to falling orders and poor competitiveness. 

A study by a consulting firm had recommended that STX reduce its manpower by 40 percent to gain cost competitiveness, but KDB plans to demand additional restructuring. 
Bae Joo-yon, KBS World Radio News.