Kim Yong-beom, chief of the presidential policy office, on the 22nd addressed the yellow envelope law, a new labor law aimed at strengthening the bargaining rights of subcontract workers (the amended Trade Union and Labor Relations Adjustment Act), for which the need to "adjust the scope of labor disputes" has been raised, saying, "After one to two years of implementation and as it takes root, strengths and areas for improvement will emerge," and, "We can evaluate it accordingly and make fixes." However, regarding President Lee Jae-myung's order to refine the interpretive guidelines, he said, "It was not that he said it because of the yellow envelope law itself."
Recently, the Samsung Group supra-enterprise labor union's Samsung Electronics chapter said it would take up the government and management's released "Gwangju semiconductor cluster" construction project as a topic for collective bargaining, prompting growing calls to adjust the scope of the yellow envelope law, a new labor law aimed at strengthening the bargaining rights of subcontract workers. Some unions have demanded what they call "distribution of N% of operating profit," and also said this issue should be treated as a subject of labor dispute.
That afternoon at the presidential office, the chief said, "I don't think the president's remarks yesterday were expressing concern about the yellow envelope law, a new labor law aimed at strengthening the bargaining rights of subcontract workers, itself," adding, "The point was that it would be good if the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) clearly organized guidelines or a position on areas with much controversy." He continued, "I was told that guidelines made by the ministry are not weaker (in legal effect) than an enforcement decree," and, "There was even an opinion that guidelines alone are sufficient."
He noted that when the yellow envelope law, a new labor law aimed at strengthening the bargaining rights of subcontract workers, was implemented, concerns in the business community, including the Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF), were high, saying, "Extreme claims were made that prime contractors would be unable to run their businesses because they would have to deal with hundreds of subcontractors and would leave Korea, but I thought that was excessive." He added, "If that actually happens, the policy office will put our heads together, deliberate, and fix it."
Earlier, the Samsung Electronics union issued a position on the 13th, saying, "The Honam semiconductor 'megaproject' is a project that could affect the workplaces and treatment of tens of thousands of people," and, "We will address related matters in the 2027 bargaining." In response, President Lee said at a Cabinet meeting on the 21st, "There have been extreme remarks to the effect that 'if you don't agree, it can't go forward,' which the public finds shocking," adding, "If you take it that way, there is nothing about the exercise of management rights at any company that is unrelated. For example, inheritance issues and sales of management control would also become problems, wouldn't they?" He also said, "If you make such preposterous claims and expand them like this, there is no end."