South Korea orders striking cement truckers back to work

By KIM TONG-HYUNG
Associated Press

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s government has ordered some of the thousands of truck drivers who have been on strike to return to work, insisting that their nationwide walkout over freight fare issues is hurting an already weak economy. Despite facing the threat of delicensing or even prison terms, the strike’s organizers say they will defy the order and accused President Yoon Suk Yeol’s conservative government of suppressing their labor rights and ignoring what they described as worsening work conditions and financial strain caused by rising fuel costs and interest rates. The order targets the drivers of cement trucks among a broader group of truckers participating in the walkout.