An analysis said that if the general strike threatened by the Samsung Electronics union becomes a reality, this year's economic growth rate will fall by up to 0.5 percentage point.
According to the Bank of Korea and others on the 18th, the Bank of Korea submitted a report containing this assessment to the government at the Market Situation Review Meeting on the 14th. The report was reportedly relayed to the presidential office. The government was said to have asked the Bank of Korea to analyze the impact under various strike scenarios.
The report also estimated that losses from disruptions to semiconductor production would reach 30 trillion won. This assumes a worst-case scenario in which the Samsung Electronics union strike proceeds for 18 days as warned, and it takes about three weeks to restore memory chip production lines after the strike.
The Samsung Electronics union is conducting post-mediation to draw up a negotiation plan under the mediation of the Central Labor Relations Commission under the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL). First-round post-mediation was held on the 11th–13th but broke down. The government plans to consider invoking the emergency mediation authority if the second round of post-mediation also collapses. If the emergency mediation authority is invoked, the union must immediately halt industrial action, and strikes are banned for 30 days.