DATE=03/25/2002

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-287946

TITLE=SOKOR/STRIKES UPDATE (S)

BYLINE=AMY BICKERS

DATELINE=TOKYO

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: South Korea's striking power unions are facing massive dismissal for ignoring government ultimatum to return to work Monday. V-O-A's Amy Bickers reports the unions have offered to negotiate with the government, but are unwilling to talk about privatization of the country's power industry, which is at the core of the month-long strike.

TEXT: South Korea's state power utility said Monday it would move ahead with plans to fire thousands of workers who defied the Monday morning deadline. Riot police stormed a university campus to disperse the strikers who staged a sit-in demonstration there.

Economist Lee Phil-sing of Korea University says that labor and management should reopen talks.

/// LEE ACT ///

I think there is no other way. That is the only choice for the government and the workers. They have to talk and continue to talk until they find a solution.

/// END ACT ///

The workers say they want to negotiate with the government, but insist the government's privatization plan, which the unions fear will trigger layoffs, is off the table.

The government has taken a tough line against the unions. Riot police stormed the campus of Seoul's Yonsei University Monday, where the power workers were staging a sit-in for the second day in a row. On Sunday, hundreds of students and labor activists threw firebombs and rocks at police, who fought back with clubs. (SIGNED)

NEB/AB/MAR