Government-Freight Solidarity 2nd Negotiation Ends in Deadlock After 40 Minutes... Differences Remain

The second negotiation between the government and the Cargo Solidarity was broken off after 40 minutes. This came just one day after the issuance of the work commencement order for cement transport workers.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport and the Cargo Solidarity held their second meeting around 2 p.m. on the 30th at the Government Sejong Complex. This was two days after their previous meeting on the 28th. On the government side, Gu Heonsang, Director of Logistics Policy at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and on the Cargo Solidarity side, Kim Taeyoung, Senior Vice Chairman of the Cargo Solidarity, attended the meeting.

The two sides talked for about 40 minutes but only repeated their existing positions and failed to narrow their differences.

The Cargo Solidarity demands the permanent establishment of the Safe Freight Rate system and the expansion of applicable items, but the government maintains its position to extend the Safe Freight Rate system for three years without expanding the items.

The Cargo Solidarity stated, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport have no intention to engage in dialogue at all," adding, "We came with a sincere negotiation proposal, but we could not continue the talks due to the government's statement that negotiation was impossible."

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport is pushing for a three-year extension of the Safe Freight Rate system and, with legislative procedures underway in the National Assembly, holds the position that it cannot accept the Cargo Solidarity’s demands.

On the morning of the same day, Minister Won Heeryong of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport emphasized during an on-site inspection at a cement transport company in Seoul, "Formal meetings that are just for the sake of buying time to continue the transport refusal have no meaning."

He said, "(The Safe Freight Rate system) is a legislative matter for the National Assembly and, in a way, a matter of public petition," adding, "There is no need to meet before returning to work, but since the Cargo Solidarity side insists on meeting, there is no need to avoid it, so we are holding the meeting."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.