Carmaker Hyundai hit by stoppage

Hyundai assembly lines stood idle for four hours

Workers at South Korean carmaker Hyundai have joined an industry-wide strike in protest at a free trade agreement with the US.

Production was hit by a four-hour strike on Thursday. Unionised workers at its affiliate Kia also downed tools.

Hyundai and Kia workers plan a further six-hour strike on Friday, said union officials from both firms.

It comes as the US and South Korea are set, on 30 June, to sign the free trade agreement reached on 2 April.

The pact is the biggest for the US since the 1993 North America Free Trade Agreement, and will then need ratification by the legislatures of both countries.

The deal has left many local workers and farmers fearing for their jobs.

A Hyundai spokesman said the stoppages were estimated to have cost a combined 8,800 vehicles, or 127bn won ($137.1m; £68m) in lost output, to Hyundai and Kia.

Hyundai has been hit by a series of strikes in recent years, which has prevented it - in conjunction with Kia - becoming the fifth-biggest global carmaker by sales volume.