A bruising seven-day strike by truck drivers that crippled South Korea's main Port of Busan appears to be over.

Government negotiators and the Korea Cargo Transport Workers' Union said they reached agreement Thursday after four hours of late-night talks on a deal that includes full compensation for drivers for increased diesel prices set for July, reduced road tolls and higher fees for truckers' services.

Drivers were also pressing for higher pay and an end to expensive middlemen in the road haulage industry.

Prime Minister Goh Kun earlier had toured the world's third-largest container port, and vowed to mobilize all resources to counter the effects of the strike, the Yonhap news agency said.

The Ministry of Construction and Transportation said it would open a coordination center to help delivery firms and monitor military logistics equipment mobilized for use at the port. It also temporarily waived some customs procedures for incoming shipments.

There was no estimate from officials on how long it would take to clear the backlog of cargo or get goods on ships that were rerouted to ports in Japan and China to their intended destinations.

The breakthrough appears to have come as an offer by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions to intervene. "We will launch a support group to provide full-blown assistance for labor-management negotiations," KCTU president Dan Byung-ho told the Korea Herald. Labor Minister Kwon Ki-hong welcomed the gesture, saying an "absence of leadership" hindered efforts to reach a compromise.

Kwon promised to seek changes in insurance laws covering industrial accidents as a way to help self-employed workers, such as independent truckers.

He was less forthcoming on the demand for their legal status to be upgraded to that of regular workers.

By P.T. Bangsberg