Lee Jae-myung said in a recent closed-door meeting at the Blue House that if corporations are told to distribute profits every year like the Samsung Electronics union is demanding, they will all move overseas, according to reports on the 19th. The post the president uploaded on X (formerly Twitter) on the 18th, saying corporate management rights should be respected as much as labor rights, was said to be considerably toned down from what he said in the closed meeting. The Samsung Electronics union is demanding 10% of operating profit as bonuses and, after announcing a strike, is in a second round of post-negotiation with the company.
◇ "Can operating profit from the AI boom be called earned income?"
According to ChosunBiz reporting, the president said in a recent closed-door Blue House meeting that the record-high operating profits being posted by Samsung Electronics and other domestic corporations are due to a global boom in the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. He then asked, Can all of this be regarded as earned income? The implication was that it is not something unions can naturally demand as bonuses.
The president also said, in effect, that semiconductors are a national strategic industry and cannot be viewed as an issue for individual corporations alone, and that the matter should be seen from the perspective of the entire national economy.
The president was also said to have pointed out that there is a very large income gap between workers at large companies like Samsung Electronics, which are benefiting from the AI boom, and ordinary workers at mid-sized and small companies. He went on to say, Demanding that profits be distributed every year like the Samsung Electronics union does is no different from raising corporate taxes that must be paid annually, adding, If this happens, corporations will all go overseas.
A key ruling-party official said, The president's remarks in the closed meeting were much tougher, but after internal discussions, they decided to tone down the post on X (formerly Twitter).
◇ "You cannot view large-company workers the same as mid-sized and small-company workers"
The president has issued a string of tough remarks about the Samsung Electronics union's strike notice. The day before, he posted on X (formerly Twitter), In the Republic of Korea, which has adopted a liberal democratic basic order and a capitalist market economy order, labor should be respected as much as corporations, and corporate management rights should be respected as much as labor rights. In the post, he also said, Under the current Constitution, the basic rights of all citizens are guaranteed, but they may be restricted for public welfare, etc., within the scope that does not infringe on their essential content.
At a senior secretaries' meeting on the 30th of last month, the president said, If some organized workers make excessive and unjust demands solely for their own benefit and end up being condemned by the public, it will harm not only the union in question but also other workers. He also said, We need a sense of responsibility and solidarity to build a world where we can all live together, not a 'let me alone survive' mindset.
In political and corporate circles, the reaction was that it was unexpected for a progressive-leaning president to publicly ask a large-company union to refrain from striking and to suggest that, if an actual strike begins, it would be blocked with an emergency adjustment order. A ruling-party official said, The president has long often said that it is hard to view large-company workers with high salaries and bonuses the same as workers at small and mid-sized corporations.
Meanwhile, the late President Roh Moo-hyun said, just before invoking emergency adjustment authority over an airline strike in 2005, It is not a responsible attitude toward the public for the government to keep standing by, and We have no choice but to exercise the authority granted by law. He also said, Labor disputes should proceed within the framework of the law, taking into account the national economy and citizens' inconvenience, and A strike that holds the entire national economy hostage is hard to justify under any pretext.