Lee urges striking railroad workers to return to work

By Byun Duk-kun

SEOUL, Dec. 2 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak again urged striking railroad workers Wednesday to halt their walkout and immediately return to work, saying the strike is not only illegal but also unreasonable.

The call came one day after Finance Minister Yoon Jeung-hyun declared the strike
illegal in a joint press conference also attended by Labor Minister Yim Tae-hee
and Knowledge Economy Minister Choi Kyoung-hwan. The strike began last Thursday.
"The most serious problem facing the world right now is the lack of jobs. Staging
a walkout when their employment is guaranteed cannot be understood, especially
when our own young people are suffering from a lack of jobs," Lee said while
visiting a crisis control center at Seoul Station, according to the presidential
office.
The president visited the train station in central Seoul on his way to Daegu,
where he was set to attend a meeting of the Presidential Committee on Regional
Development.
The president said the government will not give in to any unreasonable demands
from the striking workers of the state-run Korea Railroad (KORAIL), noting that
setting a bad precedent could do far more damage than the prolonged strike
itself.
"The principle must be observed under any circumstances and once a rule is
broken, it will continue to be broken," Lee said.
The president also ordered his officials to help minimize any inconvenience for
citizens, noting the reduced capacity of passenger trains may add to their costs,
according to the presidential office.
Since the start of the strike, KORAIL has maintained the capacity of its express
KTX trains at full level while the operation rate of slower, cheaper trains has
been cut by nearly half.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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