On the same day that Deutsche Telekom said it would not bid for O2, it unveiled plans to relieve the pressure of intense competition at home: it will reduce its German workforce by 19, 000, some 11% of the total, over the next three years.
This will relieve the chaebol of their crippling interest payments and help them to reduce their debt-equity ratios to a target of less than 200% (compared with 400-500% now) by the end of next year.