On the 19th, Yang Hang-ja, the People Power Party candidate for Gyeonggi governor, held a press conference and said, "To urge a grand labor-management compromise to prevent the ruin of the semiconductor industry and the regression of the Republic of Korea's economy, I am beginning an open-ended hunger sit-in."
That day, Yang held a press conference in front of the Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus in Godeok-dong, Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and said, "With management and labor at Samsung Electronics facing off without concessions, the semiconductor industry, the core of Korea's economy, has been pushed to the brink," adding, "The government projects strike damages will reach 100 trillion won."
Yang went on to say, "Semiconductor plants are different from ordinary manufacturing factories," adding, "Given the nature of the process, if a line stops, it can even lead to an unprecedented situation where a large number of wafers must be scrapped."
A wafer is a core semiconductor material used to build up dozens of layers of circuits to make an integrated circuit (IC chip). If the process stops at this point, all wafers under manufacture become defective.
Yang said, "What is more important than my election victory is the survival of the Republic of Korea," adding, "Management and labor must reach an immediate agreement through active dialogue and forward-looking concessions."
Yang also said, "The government must step in to solve the practical issues, and the political sphere, regardless of ruling or opposition party, must embark on a national-level mediation," adding, "I earnestly ask the government, the political sphere, management and labor, and civil society to join in responding to this desperate appeal."