SEOUL -- A wire service reports that South Korean rail, gas and power unions launched a general strike on Monday following weekend protests demanding shorter working hours and a halt to state plans to privatise utilities, local television said.

As dawn broke on the fourth anniversary of the administration of President Kim Dae-jung, the government was preparing emergency measures to prevent a halt to public services, YTN television news network said.

The strike followed protests in Seoul on Sunday by 10,000 workers across the country and late night negotiations which failed to meet union demands, it said.

Unions including the 500,000-member Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) fear mass layoffs under the government's plan to restructure debt-ridden state companies through privatisation.

"Unless the government stops the privatisation of the public companies, we will proceed with the planned general strikes," KCTU spokesman Sohn Nark-koo said in a statement on Sunday.

The government, which had warned of stern action if the unionised workers crippled public services, was using non-union workers to maintain rail service, reduced to one-third of normal traffic on Monday morning, KBS television reported.

Commuters in the capital Seoul, a metropolis with a population of 15 million people faced delays. But the city deployed shuttle buses to cope with the strike, which began at four in the morning on Monday (1900 GMT on Sunday), it said.

The government has come under increasing pressure to ease its reforms drive, started in the wake of the 1997-98 Asian crisis, as President Kim's ruling party faces local elections in Une and a presidential election in December.

Kim's administration faces record low approval ratings partly due to the stalled rapprochement with communist North Korea and with influence-peddling scandals. He is barred by the constitution from seeking a second term.

The KCTU, the second-biggest labour group, said some 100,000 workers at 140 firms, including Hyundai Motor Co, would also walk out from Tuesday unless legislators revise labour laws to ensure a five-day work week and flexible shifts.

The militant labour umbrella group includes unions in most major manufacturing sectors, including autos and shipbuilding.

Two-day talks between union leaders and the management of the Korea National Railroad Corp ended without a result on Sunday.