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Interest in civil service jobs wanes in Japan and S. Korea but still hot in China

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Amid rising youth unemployment, more young Chinese are hoping to land government jobs.

PHOTO: REUTERS

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TOKYO/SEOUL/BEIJING - The prestige of bureaucratic work in Japan's government nerve centre of Kasumigaseki is fast fading, as younger people shun low-paying civil service jobs with punishing overtime for a healthier work-life balance.
Mr Koichi Sawada, who heads the National Personnel Authority's examination division, told a news conference in March that Japan faces a "critical situation" with the number of applicants having declined for five straight years.
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