"South Korean truckers vote to end strike for minimum wage protections," 9 Dec 2022

South Korean truckers voted to end their strike on Friday as it entered a third week with public support waning and the government refusing to budge, saying the action had caused "astronomical" damage to the economy. [...] And as the government increased pressure - including unprecedented "start work" orders - some of over 25,000 striking truckers headed back to work this week, realising that their bid to widen and make permanent a government scheme on minimum freight rates was failing. [...] "The union fell into a trap that the government buried," said Kang, who is not a union driver, referring to the government narrative that the strike was devastating the country's economy, the world 10th largest. "Then, we, living day by day, just have to accept the reality and move on," he said. [...] Yoon ordered some drivers back to work, using never-before invoked powers under a 2004 law. He also compared the strikers to North Korea's nuclear threat and declined to engage with union representatives. [...]