Governor Kim Dong-yeon: "Government Has Ignored Cargo Solidarity Strike for 5 Months... Illegal Acts Must Be Strictly Punished"

Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, criticized the current government on the 24th, saying that the cargo truckers' strike reached this disastrous point because no one took active measures to resolve the situation even after five months. He also advised that emphasizing only strict punishment of illegal actions will never resolve the issue. Furthermore, he stressed that Gyeonggi Province will do its best to reduce the cargo transport gap and inconvenience to residents.

Governor Kim posted on Facebook late at night on the 23rd with the title "Cargo Truckers' Strike, We Will Do Our Best to Minimize Residents' Inconvenience," stating, "The Cargo Truckers' Union of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions Public Transport Workers' Union will begin an indefinite strike from 0:00 on the 24th," and promised, "Gyeonggi Province will do its utmost to minimize inconvenience to residents until the strike ends."

He further stated, "Although the strike was already announced since June, no one took active steps to resolve the situation or implement promised measures during the five months," and argued, "Emphasizing only 'strict punishment of illegal actions' will make it difficult to resolve the situation going forward."

He emphasized, "Responsible efforts from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the National Assembly, the Economic and Social Labor Council, and both labor and management sides are urgently needed to prevent public inconvenience and industrial damage caused by the logistics crisis."

He added, "Gyeonggi Province has been operating an 'Emergency Transport Countermeasures Headquarters' in preparation for the strike," and explained, "The Emergency Countermeasures Headquarters will respond in stages according to the situation."

In particular, he said, "We plan to prioritize deploying substitute vehicles and temporarily issue permits to cargo trucks with a maximum load capacity of 8 tons or more (cargo trucks), tractor-type special vehicles (tractors), and 'yard tractors' that can only operate within port terminals to handle cargo transport," adding, "We will minimize the cargo transport gap caused by the strike as much as possible."