S Korean auto strike enters 5th day as workers hold out Jean Yoon SEOUL 10 APRIL SOUTH Korea's automobile industry, among its top export sectors, remained at a standstill on Monday over union demands that the government scrap its plan to sell Daewoo Motor to a possible foreign buyer. Workers at the country's top four automakers — Kia Motors, the country's largest Hyundai Motor, Sangyong Motor and Daewoo Motor — entered their fifth day of a strike. They are protesting the government's plan to sell the unlisted Daewoo unit via an auction in which US auto giants General Motors and Ford have expressed an interest. "Our factories have remained idle since last week as workers stick to their plans to hold a strike until April 12,” said a Hyundai Motor spokesman. The ministry of commerce, energy and industry said last week the strike would mean a loss of $44m a day for an industry whose exports were tallied at about $1.1bn last month. Auto unions held partial strikes early last week and went on a full-fledged walkout last Thursday to press demands for the nationalisation of Daewoo Motor to save it from falling into foreign hands. Daewoo Motor ran into financial trouble last July along with 11 other Daewoo Group affiliates which were saved by local creditors who supplied emergency funds and debt rollovers. The local creditor banks, several of them nationalised, now plan to sell Daewoo Motor via a limited auction by the end of August. Analysts said auto unions were timing the strike to raise the political heat on the government ahead of the April 13 general election, seen as a crucial test for President Kim Dae-jung's ruling party and its hold on power in the remaining three years of his term. Finance minister Lee Hun-jai said on Sunday the strike by auto workers posed a serious threat to the economy and must be settled soon. But his comments failed to move the auto workers. "We are not interested in what he says and we are ignoring his comments,” said a Daewoo union official. Lee said strong action would be taken against illegal strikes but he also said striking auto workers' demands would be taken into account when government policy was being decided. "The Daewoo issue is a matter of life or death not only for the future of the country's auto industry but for the country's economy,” Lee told journalists after a meeting of top government officials. "Japan, which is far ahead of us in the auto business, has made ties with foreign companies to survive,” he said. "If we are not able to normalise the management of Daewoo Motor soon, it will not only dent the auto industry but also have a severe impact on the credibility of the country.”— Reuters For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service Disclaimer