The vice transport minister held a meeting with the leader of a truckers' union on Friday, as a general strike launched by the unionized truckers entered its fourth day.

Meeting with Lee Bong-joo, head of the Cargo Truckers Solidarity, Vice Transport Minister Eo Myeong-so urged the union to return to work, pledging to continue negotiations on the union's demands.

After the talks, the union's leadership began a working-level meeting with officials from the transport ministry.

The ministry estimated around 35 percent of the 22-thousand-member union was participating in Friday's demonstrations.

Meanwhile, as businesses in the auto, steel and cement industries among others experience production and logistics disruptions, labor minister Lee Jeong-sik pledged to come up with a comprehensive response.

The union, affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, is demanding a continuation of the so-called "Safe Trucking Freight Rates System," which guarantees their basic wages, set to expire at the end of this year.