SEOUL (AFP) - PRESIDENT Lee Myung-Bak on Saturday ordered a tough crackdown on an ongoing railway strike as cargo train services remained crippled across South Korea for a third day.

Thousands of railway workers on Thursday walked out after talks collapsed over union demands for better wages, improved working conditions and the reinstatement of dismissed striking workers.

'There must not be any compromise for the sake of convenience this time,' Mr Lee told a group of his cabinet ministers and heads of state companies, according to the presidential Blue House.

'At a time when hundreds of thousands of young people are unable to find jobs, union workers at a state company who are guaranteed of lifetime employment are on strike. This cannot be understood and should not be understood by the people,' he said.

Korail said the industrial action, which drew 16,000 out of some 25,000 Korail union workers, paralysed 90 per cent of its cargo train service on Saturday, with only 30 out of 300 daily cargo trains running normally.

But the passenger train service, including metropolitan subway services, remained unaffected as alternative staff were replacing striking workers. The railway service accounts for about seven percent of South Korea's passenger and cargo transportation.

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