Minister Kim Jung-kwan of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources on the 27th urged "mature and wise judgment" from "semiconductor industry executives, engineers, partner companies, and workers," saying that "while workers clearly have their share," in connection with Samsung Electronics' union move toward a general strike.
At a briefing with the press corps at the Government Complex Sejong that day, the Minister said, "(Samsung Electronics) has more than 4 million minority shareholders, and the National Pension Service also holds about 9% (equity in Samsung Electronics). Numerous partner companies and local and national communities are all connected," adding, "There is a question of whether Samsung Electronics' profits can be seen as solely the fruit of management and workers."
The Minister said, "The semiconductor industry is the only sector in Korea that still maintains competitiveness, and it has a structure in which large-scale investment must continue," adding, "Whether it is Intel or Japanese corporations, once you fall behind in competitiveness, it is hard to recover, and in most cases, recovery never comes and it ends there."
Currently, the Samsung Electronics chapter of the cross-enterprise union, which represents a majority at Samsung Electronics, has announced a general strike from the 21st of next month to June 7. The union is demanding, among other things, a performance bonus equal to 15% of operating profit. Academia expects that if the strike materializes, economic losses could reach as much as 30 trillion won.
Meanwhile, the Minister took a firm stance against labor's pushback over the government's promotion of an artificial intelligence (AI) project based on tacit knowledge (know-how accumulated by workers over decades). The Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) is pushing an "AI model development project" to turn tacit knowledge into data.
The Minister said, "This is not an issue we can take or leave; if we do not act, it concerns industries that will disappear due to aging, among other factors," adding, "We must persuade labor and move this issue forward."
The Minister also addressed concerns that AI could take jobs, saying, "The moment robots replace tasks, on-site workers become a kind of 'robot manager,'" adding, "Avoided industries could become more friendly to women and young people."
The Minister went on to say regarding the petroleum price ceiling system, "Price controls do not align with my personal conviction, but there are clearly market situations now in which prices must be controlled." However, the ceiling could be terminated if three conditions are met: an end to the Middle East war, normalization of passage through the Strait of Hormuz, and a reform of settlement systems related to gas stations.