The strike over privatization plans entered its fifth week at the state owned Korea Electric Power Corporation yesterday, passing the deadline set by management for all workers to return to their jobs or be fired. The government corporation has announced that it will begin processing the terminations of the thousands of workers who remained on strike to protest the planned privatization of Korea’s electric, gas and railroad utilities. Far from calming the unrest Korea has experienced in recent months (see WIT for Feb. 25, 2002), the announcement drew a response from a union spokesman that the government’s actions will have major repercussions when Korea hosts the World Cup this summer.
See "South Korean threat to workers", ANDREW WARD, Financial Times, March 25, 2002