[Anchor]

Final negotiations between the Seoul city bus labor and management have ultimately broken down, meaning the Seoul bus union will go on strike starting with the first buses early tomorrow morning (September 16). Although the Seoul Metropolitan Government has announced emergency transportation measures, tomorrow morning's commute is immediately facing severe disruptions.

Reporter Kim Hye-min has the details.

[Reporter]

The Seoul city bus labor and management held their second mediation meeting starting at 2:00 PM today to arbitrate the labor dispute.

However, failing to find common ground even after eight hours of mediation, the process finally broke down around 10:00 PM.

[Park Jeom-gon / Chairman, Seoul City Bus Labor Union: They are turning us into the worst villains in the eyes of the citizens, and we will never accept this. We have decided to go on an indefinite strike until an agreement is reached.]

Even after the final breakdown, the union stated that it would "wait until midnight, the legal deadline," but a settlement was ultimately not reached.

The core issue in the negotiations was the standard calculation hours for ordinary wages, which determines how much the monthly ordinary wage should be evaluated on an hourly basis.

The union maintained that 176 hours per month should be applied in accordance with the spirit of the Supreme Court ruling on Dong-A Transportation last April. Meanwhile, management and the Seoul Metropolitan Government argued for 209 hours per month, asserting that the Supreme Court's remand trial for the ruling is still ongoing and nothing has been finalized.

Following the breakdown of negotiations, the union is set to launch its general strike as scheduled starting at 4:00 AM tomorrow.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has decided to operate around 1,500 free shuttle buses and increase subway train operations by more than 200 runs compared to usual.

[Oh Se-hoon / Mayor of Seoul: The Seoul Metropolitan Government will prepare thoroughly by mobilizing all available means to ensure there are no gaps in citizens' mobility tomorrow morning, preparing for all possibilities.]

Town buses will also be deployed to city bus routes, and schools and public institutions have been requested to delay their start and arrival times by one hour.

While the city plans to minimize confusion centered around the commute hours, inconveniences for citizens are expected to grow if the strike is prolonged.

(Video by: Lee Sang-hak, Kim Han-gyeol | Video Editing: Choi Hye-ran)