South Korea’s government is pulling out the big guns to stop a Samsung Electronics strike before it starts. Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan announced the country will use all available options, including emergency arbitration, to prevent a walkout that could cripple the world’s largest memory chip manufacturer.
The labor union has set a May 21 deadline. If negotiations over performance-based bonuses fail by then, workers plan to strike.
The $67 billion question
Kim Jung-kwan put a number on the potential damage: 100 trillion won, roughly $67 billion. Emergency arbitration in South Korea can suspend strikes for up to 30 days, buying time for negotiations while keeping production lines humming. The government frames it as a national economic security measure.
What the workers want
