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Tens of thousands of workers went on general strike yesterday, demanding a five-day workweek and a 15.2 percent wage hike.

The hard-line Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) declared a general strike during a rally held at Chongmyo Park in downtown Seoul.

Some 20,000 protesting workers marched along the streets to regroup at Myongdong Cathedral in the evening, waving banners and chanting their demands.

KCTU president Dan Byung-ho said that KCTU member workers have launched the strike to achieve a cut in the workweek from the current six days to five and the double-digit pay raise.

He also said the work stoppage is designed to urge the government to give up its plan to sell the ailing Daewoo Motor Co. to a foreign firm.

In addition, Dan urged employers and government officials to stop unilateral corporate restructuring, which is feared to bring pains to workers. He also called for a measure to protect the rights of irregular and temporary workers.

The KCTU claimed that more than 70,000 workers of 141 labor unions joined the general strike at major firms and hospitals, saying the collective action was being led by metal workers and nurses.

The labor group of 590,000 member workers originally expected that more than 100,000 unionists would participate in the full-fledged walkout.

However, the Ministry of Labor reported that only 26,400 workers of 65 firms and hospitals went on strike, adding that the number of striking workers will not exceed 36,000.

As about 3,000 nurses at 18 hospitals belonging to the KCTU-affiliated Korea Health and Medical Workers' Union staged a work stoppage, patients were inconvenienced. But no major medical mishaps were reported.

The affected medical institutions included Seoul National University Hospital, Kyung Hee University Hospital and Ewha Women's University Hospital.

Other striking workers are members of the Korea Metal Workers' Federation which boasts of 174,000 members.

Industrial sources estimated that some 10,000 workers at 38 firms including LG Chemical and Kumho Tire launched general strikes, while 20,000 workers at some 65 companies engaged in a partial strike.

A Labor Ministry official said that many KCTU workers are staying away from the general strike as unionists of the nation's four major automakers, including Hyundai Motor Co., have decided not to join the strike.

The Seoul subway trade union of about 9,000 unionists reached an agreement with management earlier this year that it would not engage in any walkout during the year 2000.

In addition, workers of state-run corporations such as Korea Telecom refused to take part.

The nation also managed to avoid the first strike planned by pilots of Korean Airlines as the government allowed them to form a flight crew union early yesterday morning.

The 1,200-member Korean Air Flight Crew Union had threatened to strike if the Labor Ministry refused to hand over a certificate giving the union legal status before the May 31 deadline.

Meanwhile, President Kim said during a Cabinet meeting Tuesday that the government will positively study ways of introducing the five-day workweek in order to cut working hours from the current 44 hours per week to 40.

Kim's remark is seen as a move to placate union workers one day before they kicked off the general strike.

KCTU president Dan urged the government to work out a concrete timetable for the adoption of the five-day workweek, welcoming the president's remark.