Defying a strong government warning,tens of thousands of South Korean civil servants walked off their job Monday, demanding collective action and other full labor rights, reported South Korean Yonhap News Agency.

When the strike plan was announced two weeks ago, the government declared it illegal and vowed a strong crackdown.

Moreover, earlier Monday, South Korean Government Administration and Home Affairs Minister Huh Sung-kwan went on television again, warning that "all those who would participate inthe strike would be punished, even if the number reaches 20,000 or30,000."

Huh said that strikers, who would be dismissed, would never be reinstated.

Despite the government warning, the (South) Korean Government Employees' Union said some 44,000 members took part in the indefinite strike.

"We will secure the three labor rights by successfully carryingout the general strike at all costs," the union said in a statement.

The union said, however, that its members working in public health, water, sewage and garbage collecting services did not participate in the strike so as to minimize public inconvenience, reported Yonhap.

Meanwhile, government branches were trying to check the exact number of civil servants who walked off their job, said Yonhap.

The union, launched in March 2002, has about 140,000 members, almost half the country's 300,000 general public servants, excluding firefighters, teachers and police officers.

The government mobilized 16,000 police around more than 200 public places where strikers might gather for solidarity rallies. On the eve of the strike on Sunday, some 3,000 protesters rallied at Seoul's Yonsei University. Police dispersed them in two hours.

The government, which has never authorized the union, is movingto allow some of its low-ranking employees to organize labor unions with limited power, said Yonhap.

According to a government-initiated bill now pending at the National Assembly, the union, if formed, will have the right to negotiate collective bargaining but can not take any collective action such as a strike.

Source: Xinhua