Truckers' nationwide strike is continuing Monday for the fourth day, crippling South Korea's cargo delivery system.
Talks to end the strike who handle container traffic at South Korea's ports over the weekend broke down.
Logistics experts say if the strike drags on, the disruption would hurt the South Korean economy severely.
"The government should stop right now relying only on the useless 'risk management manual.' It needs to realize the crisis it is facing," Yonhap News quoted an anonymous official at the port of Busan as saying.
Busan, the country's second largest city, is one of the South Korean ports that have been affected by the truckers' strike.
The Korea Cargo Workers Union (KCWU), which claims to have a membership of more than 13,000, went on strike Friday, demanding higher government subsidies and more wages to meet skyrocketing fuel costs.
On Monday, the port of Busan, located on the southeastern coast, was backed up with undelivered and unloaded containers.
The volume of containers to and from Busan and other major ports fell to 18 percent of normal capacity, YTN cable channel reported, adding that cargo transfers at the port of Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, came to a halt.