Korean truckers rally against fuel prices

SEOUL, June 13 (UPI) -- The South Korean government, already saddled by the public outcry over U.S. beef imports, Friday faced a big truckers' walkout to protest rising fuel costs.

The Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs said the nationwide action by more than 10,800 truckers caused massive disruptions at major ports, Yonhap news agency reported. In the port city of Incheon, only 10 percent of the normal complement of trucks was available to handle shipments, the report said.

Inland container depots faced similar disruptions in the movement of cargo.

The truckers want the government to bring down diesel fuel costs, raise freight rates and set up a standardized pricing system for truckers to ensure minimum wages for services rendered, the report said.

One truck driver complained current freight rates have not changed in the past four years, the report said. He said those rates were set when diesel cost about 87 U.S. cents a liter, while the current cost has more than doubled. One U.S. gallon equals about 3.78 liters.

"The more you drive, the more money you lose," he said.

Unions representing the drivers said the government has failed to address the plight of people who have to use fuel for their livelihoods.

Government authorities said a major source of concern is that many non-union drivers have joined the strike.

The walkout came after talks failed to persuade the truckers to call off their action.

No new talks have been scheduled, and officials said they do not know when the walkout will end.

The government has planned to spend about $10 billion in the next 12 months to help ease the impact of higher fuel costs on the public.

The walkout comes at a time when the three-month-old government of President Lee Myung-bak is under intense pressure to renegotiate a deal that lifted the 2003 ban on U.S. beef imports imposed after an outbreak of mad cow disease in the United States.

South Korean Trade Minister Kim Jong-hoon has planned to meet with U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab in Washington to see if some changes can be made in the deal, aware that any effort to renegotiate the entire deal could hurt South Korea's external credit rating and hamper its effort for a free trade agreement with the United States, the European Union and other trading partners.

Yonhap reported the previous truckers' strike in 2003 lasted two weeks and cost the nation about $540 million.