A drop in orders has led to overcapacity and depressed freight rates, as well as an incease in debts. "Korean shipping companies have suffered large losses largely because charter rates on leased vessels were fixed 2010 at a high level while actual shipping rates have fallen, Nomura analyst Young Sun Kwon said, The South Korean government is now looking to undertake a painful reorganisation of the entire industry, which will require major retrenchments The ongoing restructuring is one of several reasons why we expect growth to be weak this year and next, Krystal Tan from Capital Economics said. "The loss of tens of thousands of jobs certainly won't help economic sentiment,' she added But it is a relauvely number when set against the 26m people in employment in Korea not likely to see a big spike in the unemployment rate