The presidential office said remarks by Prime Minister Kim Min-seok on the labor dispute at Samsung Electronics represent the government's official position. It also said that because mediation has resumed, it will keep supporting the process to prevent it from leading to a strike.
Kang Yu-jung, the senior presidential spokesperson, said at a presidential office briefing on the 17th, responding to reporters' questions about the Samsung Electronics labor dispute, that "what the prime minister said is the government's official position."
Kang added, "What I can say is that, as labor and management have begun mutual mediation, we hope it will be resolved well, and the government will spare no effort to provide maximum support."
Kang went on to say, "Samsung Electronics is extremely important to the Korean economy," noting that "its sales account for 12.5% of domestic GDP, 4.6 million people are shareholders, and it works with as many as 1,700 partner corporations."
Earlier, labor and management at Samsung Electronics held post-mediation and negotiations under the arbitration of the Central Labor Relations Commission (CLRC) from the 11th to the 13th, but the talks collapsed as they failed to narrow differences over performance bonus criteria.
In a statement on the morning of the 17th, Prime Minister Kim said, "If a strike at Samsung Electronics is feared to inflict massive damage on the national economy, the government will consider every possible response, including emergency mediation." If the government invokes emergency mediation authority, strikes are banned for 30 days and the CLRC conducts mediation.
Labor and management at Samsung Electronics will attend the second post-mediation meeting to be held at the Central Labor Relations Commission on the 18th.