Kyongju Hilton closes

Kyongju Hilton closes

SEOUL (Reuter): Hit by a strike, the Hilton Hotel in South Korea's tourist resort of Kyongju closed yesterday as industrial action spread across the country.

All guests at the Kyongju Hilton had been moved to other hotels, general manager John Kidd said by telephone.

He said 120 unionized workers were occupying the lobby in defiance of a lockout declared on Friday. Talks on pay and working conditions had broken off until after the weekend.

The closure came one day after riot police raided the Hilton in Seoul. Several hours later, union and management at the Seoul Hilton reached an agreement.

Media reports said it was the first time authorities had used force against strikers in the current wave of industrial unrest.

But more raids were likely in South Korea next week as the union of the government mint, Korea Security Printing and Minting Corp., said yesterday it would go on strike.

"We took a vote yesterday, and we decided to go on strike from Tuesday," said a union official.

Company officials could not be reached for comment.

A strike at the mint is illegal as the South Korean government imposed arbitration on Wednesday that automatically prevents workers from taking industrial action for 15 days.