Industry minister warns of emergency arbitration if Samsung unions launch...

industry minister-Samsung labor dispute

Industry minister warns of emergency arbitration if Samsung unions launch strike

SEOUL, May 14 (Yonhap) -- Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said Thursday that the government may have to invoke emergency arbitration if labor unions at Samsung Electronics Co. go ahead with a planned strike next week.

The remarks came after government-led mediation talks ended without an agreement Wednesday, as labor and management remained widely divided over performance-based bonuses tied to the company's earnings from the artificial intelligence (AI)-related semiconductor business.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Kim expressed concern over the unions' plan to launch a full-scale strike starting next Thursday and urged both sides to resume dialogue as soon as possible.

"Considering the seriousness of the matter and the unimaginable ripple effects, a strike must be prevented under any circumstances," Kim said. "As industry minister, I believe emergency arbitration would be unavoidable if a strike occurs."

Under labor law, the labor ministry can invoke an emergency adjustment measure that suspends strike action for up to 30 days if it is deemed likely to seriously harm the national economy or disrupt the daily lives of citizens.

"A strike could inflict irreversible economic damage," Kim said, calling Samsung's semiconductor business "the country's unrivaled growth engine and one of its core strategic assets."

Kim noted that disruptions to wafer processing alone could cause losses of up to 100 trillion won (US$66.98 billion) and deal major damage to some 1,700 partner firms, while warning of broader consequences, such as declining trust in South Korea within global supply chains and job losses.

Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon also urged labor and management to engage in dialogue.

"There is no company without workers, and no labor union is established to destroy a company," Kim wrote on X. "If a strike itself is not the ultimate goal, it must eventually end through negotiations."

The National Labor Relations Commission officially requested that Samsung's labor and management take part in another round of follow-up mediation talks Saturday.

A representative of a labor union of Samsung Electronics Co. attends a second round of follow-up mediation talks in the government complex in the central city of Sejong on May 12, 2026. The union has said it will proceed with a planned strike on May 21 if negotiations fail to reach an agreement. (Yonhap)