Iran Press/ Asia: South Korea is a major supplier of semiconductors, smartphones, autos, batteries, and electronics goods. The strike has deepened uncertainty over global supply chains already disrupted by China's strict COVID-19 curbs and Russia's attack on Ukraine.
About 7,350 truckers, a third of the 22,000 members of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity union, were expected to be on strike on Saturday, the Transport Ministry said. It estimates about 6% of the country's 420,000 truckers are unionized.
On day five of the strike, some 100 unionized truckers, about a tenth of Friday's show of force, assembled at the main gate of the Hyundai factory in the southern city of Ulsan, protesting soaring fuel prices and demanding higher freight rates to cover costs.
About 800 striking union members were rallying at the gates of a nearby major petrochemical complex in Ulsan. According to union officials, they had cut the number of vehicles to one-tenth of normal levels on Friday.
The Transport Ministry said it planned to meet with union representatives on Saturday to continue talks to end the strike and called on union members to return to work immediately.
At the country's main seaport in Busan, tension was rising as union members hurled insults at non-union drivers entering the main gate and at the police on hand to ensure vehicles were passing through the gate, according to a Reuters.
Hyundai employees have started driving finished cars out of the factory complex and parking outside as they could not be delivered to customers because of the strike.
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