Scientist fails to get menial job

A jobless scientist in South Korea with a doctorate in physics applied for a street sweeper's job amid the economic slump but failed the physical test, local officials said yesterday.

The 36-year-old was among 63 applicants - 11 of them university graduates - for five openings in Seoul's Gangseo district. Applicants had to carry two sandbags each weighing 20 kg over their shoulders to simulate stacking garbage bags, before dashing back and forth over 25 meters with another sandbag on their shoulder. The scientist, identified only as Kim, was three seconds too slow in the dash, Chung Young-Ik, an official in charge, said.