SEOUL, KOREA - The Truckers Union under the combative Korean Confederation of Trade Unions declared that it would refuse to take cargoes left stranded by the striking railroad workers, portending a serious paralysis in the nation's economy.

 

Representatives of the Truckers Union held on December 18 a press conference at Euiwang Inland Container Depot and said it would no longer take the delivery of materials such as coal and oil critical to industrial activity, given the current situation where the government intensifies repression on the railroad workers union.

 

Earlier on the 17th the union held an emergency central committee meeting with 15 regional chapter representatives attending and passed the proposal for a sympathy strike. With the railroad freight transport ratio falling as low as 30 percent, the newly decided labor stoppage by 12,000 truck drivers signals one of the gravest challenges ever faced by the Park Geun-hye government.