Thousands of South Korean truck drivers today joined a strike launched yesterday to protest against surging oil prices, threatening to paralyse the country's major seaports and cause severe losses to exporters.
More than 5,000 truckers stopped work today, demanding the government to increase fuel subsidies, help raise transportation charges and introduce a minimum wage.
The number of strikers is expected to increase later today as more than 90 percent of 13,000 union members voted to go on strike earlier this week. Some non-unionised truckers also joined the strike.
Earlier this week, union leaders and government officials held several rounds of negotiations on the truckers' demands but failed to reach a breakthrough.
The strike was expected to cripple operations in South Korean ports and cause massive losses to exporters. Already containers have started piling up at various ports.
A two-week strike by about 6,000 truckers in May 2003 caused US$540 million in losses to exporters.
The government said it planned to dispatch 100 military trucks and use trains to transport cargo.
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