President Kim Dae-jung called for no strikes during the World Cup Finals, Friday, while having luncheon with some 160 people who have contributed to cooperation between labor and management. President Kim added cooperative relations between workers and managers are the only way to cope with global competition, urging for a mature attitude and showing an image of harmony.

In a meeting with Federation of Korean Trade Unions leader Lee Nam-sun, the same day, Prime Minister Lee Han-dong also asked for no strikes during World Cup. Lee said that while the successful hosting of the event is a must, the government should not pressure or take unreasonable action against unions for those reasons, though he did not give a clear response to the request. The prime minister was also going to ask the leader of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions for the same pledge, but he did not attend the meeting.

The KCTU issued an announcement, insisting the government was continuing to pressure democratic unions, while pretending to foster peaceful labor and management relations. It also insisted the administration should release Dan Byong-ho of the KCTU, who is also a member of KOWOC, if it really wants a strike free World Cup.

With financial and tourism related unions threatening to strike during the World Cup, an official said, some 760 out of some 900,000 business operations nationwide have issued a peaceful labor-management relations declaration, adding that a related ministerial meeting will be held on May 21 to discuss the situation.

(Kwon Sang-eun, sekwon@chosun.com )