SEOUL—South Korea asked Korea Express Co., the nation’s largest logistics company, and other shippers to pay more for road haulage to end a drivers’ strike that has brought the country’s ports to a near standstill.

“We need a prompt resolution for this issue as unrest is growing among the people amid a difficult economic situation and slowing imports and exports,” Ministry of Land, Transport and Marine Affairs Minister Chung Jong Hwan told transport-company executives in a meeting Monday, according to a statement on the ministry’s web site.

Exports from South Korea, Asia’s fourth-biggest economy, have slumped to 22 percent of normal levels because of disruptions caused by truckers striking over surging fuel costs. The stoppages have added to pressure on President Lee Myung Bak, whose popularity has plunged over the resumption of beef imports from the US.

Drivers in the construction industry have also walked out, causing work at more than 90 percent of the country’s building sites to stop, the Korea Construction Workers Union said in an e-mailed statement Monday.

Truckers represented by the Korea Cargo Workers Union stopped moving freight nationwide from June 11. The dispute has affected $1.69 billion of exports and $1.78 billion of imports as of Sunday, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s biggest automaker, said Sunday shipments of finished vehicles in the local market were only half the normal levels. Exports were largely unaffected. Truckers have also blocked gates at plants operated by Posco, the nation’s biggest steelmaker.

The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, an umbrella group including the unions of Hyundai Motor and other South Korean carmakers, is also threatening a nationwide strike over President Lee’s government’s policies, including the resumption of US beef imports, the privatization of state-run utility firms and surging inflation.

South Korea’s entire Cabinet, led by Prime Minister Han Seung Soo, last week offered to resign amid a nationwide rally against the reopening of US beef imports. The resignations haven’t officially been accepted yet.

Lee in April agreed to lift a ban imposed to prevent the possible spread of mad cow disease to win support from US lawmakers for a wider free-trade accord between the US and South Korea. The resulting public backlash cut his approval rating in half. (Bloomberg)

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SEOUL—South Korea asked Korea Express Co., the nation’s largest logistics company, and other shippers to pay more for road haulage to end a drivers’ strike that has brought the country’s ports to a near standstill.