Thirty women from the Republic of Korea (ROK), who have been recruited as stewardesses by the China Southern Airlines, have been receiving a two-month-long professional training in Guangzhou, where the headquarters of the air company is located.

They are the first group of stewardesses the China Southern Airlines has ever hired from the ROK, according to corporate sources.

Upon completion of the training course, the Korean women, aged from 20 to 27 and all college educated, will be sent to serve on round flights from Seoul to three Chinese cities of Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province, Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province, and Dalian, a port city in Liaoning.

They will later be sent to work on regular or chartered flightsfrom other cities of the ROK to more Chinese cities such as Beijing, Zhangjiajie, Urumqi, Guilin and Sanya after they have gained some experience in doing in-flight services.

The China Southern Airlines, which was created by mergers of the China Southern, China Northern and Xinjiang Airlines, began to hire foreign nationals as stewards or stewardesses in 2002.

And the company's first group of foreign stewards and stewardesses are Japanese. At present, eight Japanese stewardesses are serving on domestic Chinese flights connecting Guangzhou and other cities in China.

(Xinhua News Agency December 28, 2005)