South Korean protests over imported US beef threaten to spread to Hyundai Motor.


AFP reports that some 45,000 workers will walk out for two hours each on Wednesday and Thursday both to protest at the beef imports and to press management in wage talks.


“Unions cannot be left out of the public fight for health, now joined by even school students,” Hyundai Motor union spokesman Chang Ki-Ho told AFP, confirming the strike from 3:00 pm (0600 GMT) Wednesday and another from 2:00 am Thursday.


Metalworkers’ unions said Monday they expect up to 130,000 workers in auto and other industries to support the partial nationwide strike Wednesday.


Seoul’s decision in April to resume US beef imports, which were halted in 2003 after a mad cow case in the United States, sparked weeks of mass rallies — originally over health concerns.