Rail unions begin final negotiations ahead of tomorrow's strike

The National Railroad Workers' Union began final negotiations with Korail, the management company, at 4:10 p.m. today, ahead of the strike scheduled for tomorrow.

The railway union said it has been negotiating with the management since the suspension of last month, but has made no special progress, and today will decide whether to go on strike through the last round of intensive negotiations.

If the railway union goes on strike, only 9,000 essential maintenance workers will remain among the 22,000 union members, and Korail plans to minimize disruption by deploying replacement workers.

If the railway union goes on strike, most sections of subway lines 1, 3, and 4 in the Seoul metropolitan area, all KTX lines, and general trains such as Saemaul and Mugunghwa will be affected.

Korail plans to hire alternative workers if the union goes on strike and run the subway to work tomorrow morning as usual, but sporadic delays are expected due to work proficiency.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and Korail will prepare and announce detailed transportation measures to prepare for the strike today and tomorrow.