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Turning now to the railway strike that looks set to go the long haul...
Striking rail workers say they will hold a massive protest rally in Seoul this week unless
the government goes back on its plans to set up a new rail operator that they claim is
the first step toward privatization. The government says it will follow the letter
of the law in dealing with what it say is an "illegal strike."
Kim Hyun-bin reports. The railway strike seems to be heading for
the long haul as the state-run rail company KORAIL is not backing down from its decision
to set up a separate rail affiliate. The labor union of the railway union says
that, unless the government responds to its demands by Tuesday, thousands of people will
hold a mass nationwide protest rally on Thursday.
"If there is no response to our request by the 17th, we will conduct a legitimate nationwide
protest starting on the 19th."
The union is also calling on the government to make sure the new affiliate is not given
a license to operate a new high-speed KTX rail service.
After an emergency meeting of related vice ministers Sunday, the government reiterated
its stance.
"This is clearly an illegal strike, the government plans to sternly deal with the strike by law."
The strike is starting to impact other parts of the nation's rail system.
Subway operations in Seoul will be cut by roughly eight percent from Monday.
Daily KTX services, which had been running normally last week, will be reduced by 12
percent starting from Tuesday. Freight trains are operating at just 30 percent
of normal levels, and concerns are growing that supply shortages could become a reality
for small and mid-size companies in the near future.
Nearly 8-thousand workers are currently on strike, and despite KORAIL's threats to remove
them from their positions, only 6-hundred previously striking workers have returned
to work.
"Our initial plan was to increase operations with returning workers, but the return rate
hasn't been as strong as we expected and we are in need of substitutes."
Meanwhile, KORAIL registered its affiliate last week and the new unit is expected to
meet its licensing requirements over the next few days.
Kim Hyun-bin, Arirang News.