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.