[Yonhap News Photo]
Hyundai Motor suspended the operation of an assembly line in the southeastern industrial city of Ulsan for a second consecutive day Thursday to clear muddy water after torrential rains brought by Typhoon Chaba battered southern coastal areas.
The country's top car company said the flooded assembly line for Avante cars and Santa Fe sports utility vehicles remained crippled for two days. Muddy water suspended an assembly line for Accent and Veloster compact cars Wednesday.
The typhoon killed at least five people and left five others missing in South Korea's southern region, according to the Ministry of Public Safety and Security. Torrential rains and floodwaters damaged crops at some 7,500 hectares of farmland and inundated more than 1,000 vehicles, 508 houses, and 22 factories.
Hyundai has yet to release financial damage from heavy downpours which came on the heels of a series of walkouts that cost about three trillion won (2.69 billion US dollars).
Hyundai's unionized workers have staged partial walkouts from July 19. A provisional wage agreement was reached on August 24, but the compromise was rejected in a vote by unionists. Hyundai's union is notorious for its militant activity. For decades, strikes have been an annual event.
The labor ministry has threatened to call for emergency measures, saying Hyundai's militant union activity was seriously hurting the overall economy. By law, the government can intervene to suspend a walkout when it is related to public services, adversely affects the daily lives of the general public and jeopardizes the national economy.
Aju News Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
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Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
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