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Cars to be delivered are stranded at a parking lot of Kia's plant in Gwangju, 268 kilometers south of Seoul, on Nov. 24, when unionized truckers went on strike nationwide, demanding the government permanently scrap the phaseout of a temporary freight rate system guaranteeing a basic wage for truck drivers. Yonhap

President Yoon Suk-yeol warned the government could use an executive order to force striking truckers to return to work.

Yoon issued the warning in a Facebook post late Thursday night after thousands of members of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity Union, under the wing of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, launched a nationwide strike to demand the extension of a freight rate system guaranteeing basic wages.

The strike is the second of its kind in five months and threatens to disrupt supply chains amid post-pandemic recovery efforts.

"At a time when the people and businesses, as well as the government, are working as one to overcome the crisis, the Cargo Truckers Solidarity Union has begun an indefinite group transport refusal," Yoon wrote.