South Korean port strike ends

The government had brought in the army to move goods

Lorry drivers at South Korea's main port of Pusan have agreed to end a week-long strike.

An agreement was reached after talks between strike leaders and government officials early on Thursday.

Details have yet to be released, but the 5,000 strikers were demanding higher pay, reduced taxes and lower road tolls.

South Korea's Government says the strike has cost $450m (£279m) in lost or delayed exports.

The military was brought in on Wednesday to help move goods.

Samsung electronics, the world's biggest maker of computer memory chips, said it had suffered severe losses because of the strike.

The smaller port of Kwangyang has also been hit by the strike.

Economic woes

The port came to a virtual standstill when the strike started a week ago and Prime Minister Goh Kun has expressed worries about the fallout on an already slowing economy.

Weak local demand, the Sars virus and North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons programme are all affecting the economy.

South Korean chemical makers export about half their products and the strike has cost them more than $16m a day according to the Korea Petrochemical Industry Association (KPIA).

"Pusan and Kwangyang have been hit hardest, but exporting through other ports is not easy at the moment because they cannot secure containers as most of them are stuck in the two ports, " said Kim Pyong-joong, a KPIA official.

The South Korean stock market opened slightly higher on Thursday morning, as news of the settlement came.

The Korea Composite Stock Price Index rose 0.60% to 613.63 points as trading began.