January 9, 2002	Wednesday	Shawwal 24, 1422

SEOUL, Jan 8: South Korea’s Daewoo Motor Sales Co Ltd said on Tuesday it planned to lay off 393 people, or 12.3 per cent of its workforce, in February, to cut losses.

The company said in a statement the labour reduction plan was inevitable as snowballing operating losses, estimated at $34.83 million in 2001, threatened its survival.

Late in 2001, the company dismissed 520 employees through a voluntary retirement scheme.

Daewoo Motor Sales, which trades as a proxy for unlisted Daewoo Motor Co Ltd, expects to save about 55 billion won a year through the workforce cuts.—Reuters