The Chosunilbo - Police stormed a plant that produces engine piston rings on Tuesday to end a seven-day strike that threatened to bring Korea's automotive industry to a grinding halt. Around 2,500 police officers entered Yoosung Enterprise's main plant in Asan in southwestern Korea at 4 p.m. on Tuesday and broke up a sit-in protest by around 500 workers that started last Wednesday.
The strike at Yoosung dealt a crippling blow to Korean automakers, with Hyundai and Kia saying they suffered W21.6 billion (US$1=W1,094) in losses since Friday, when inventories of the piston rings costing just W1,000 a piece ran out and disrupted the production of 986 vehicles.
But another debilitating strike could erupt any time. There are around a dozen companies other than Yoosung that monopolize more than 70 percent of a particular auto parts market. The country's top five carmakers rely on 180 subcontracted suppliers to provide more than 50 percent of the parts that go into their vehicles.
"To prevent the entire auto industry from coming to a halt just because supply of one key part stops, carmakers need to diversify their part suppliers," said Kang Chul-koo of the Korea Automobile Manufacturers Association.
