South Korea scrambles to avert trucker strike, fearing economic damage

South Korea’s government and ruling-party officials scrambled on Tuesday to stave off a strike by unionised truckers who hobbled the country’s industrial hubs and ports only five months ago.
Members of the administration of President Yoon Suk-yeol urgently met officials of his People Power Party to look for a solution as major trucking unions threatened to begin a nationwide strike on Thursday over pay and surging fuel prices.
In June, an eight-day strike by truckers delayed cargo shipments for industries from autos to semiconductors in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, costing more than $1.2 billion in lost output and unmet deliveries while posing new risks to a strained global supply chain.
Such major companies as Hyundai Motor and steelmaker POSCO were forced to cut output.
Another round of disruption of supplies, production and exports could fuel fears of worsening inflation and damage to the country’s post-pandemic recovery.