Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn on Thursday called on public corporations to keep pursuing flexibility, creativity and innovation to stay ahead in the global industrial competition.

During a meeting with the heads of public firms, Hwang also instructed them to remain unperturbed by the national leadership crisis and continue to carry out their reform measures such as a merit-based salary system.

"The fourth industrial revolution will bring about economic, social systems that could be starkly different from the current ones," Hwang said, referring to the face-paced transformation marked by the convergence of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality.

"To rapidly respond to such changes, we need flexibility, creativity, innovation and relentless self-driven learning," he added.

The meeting at the government complex in Seoul brought together some 180 attendees, including the heads of 128 public organizations and corporations, and top policymakers such as Finance Minister Yoo Il-ho.

The workshop came a day before the Constitutional Court's ruling on President Park Geun-hye's impeachment. She was impeached in December over a corruption scandal centered on her longtime friend. Hwang has since served as the acting president.

Enumerating a series of achievements in the ongoing public sector reform, Hwang defended the performance-based pay system as a "necessary" policy initiative to enhance corporate productivity and the quality of public services.

The achievements included the public firms' introduction of a wage peak system that has created some 8,000 jobs for youth since early last year. (Yonhap)