▲ Choi Seung-ho, the chief of Samsung Electronics Co.'s largest labor union, answers reporters' questions ahead of follow-up mediation procedures in the National Labor Relations Commission office in the administrative city of Sejong on May 12, 2026. (Yonhap)
▲ Kim Hyung-ro, Samsung Electronics vice president, heads to government-led mediation talks with the labor union at the National Labor Relations Commission office in the administrative city of Sejong on May 12, 2026. (Yonhap)

Samsung Electronics-labor union

Samsung Electronics management, labor union hold mediation talks for 2nd day

SEOUL, May 12 (Yonhap) -- The labor union and management at Samsung Electronics held negotiations for the second day on Tuesday to try to narrow differences over performance-based bonuses.

The talks are seen as a last-ditch effort to avert a general strike planned for later this month.

The second round of government-led mediation talks began at 10 a.m. at the National Labor Relations Commission office in the administrative city of Sejong, after the two sides failed to reach an agreement despite more than 11 hours of talks Monday.

Samsung's labor union is demanding performance-based bonuses equivalent to 15 percent of operating profit, along with the removal of the payout cap and the formal institutionalization of the bonus system. The union earlier announced plans to stage a general strike starting May 21 if its demands are not met.

"We are working to produce satisfactory results for union members. We will do our best whether the talks end in a compromise or break down," Choi Seung-ho, head of Samsung Electronics' largest labor union, told reporters ahead of the meeting.

Samsung Electronics Vice President Kim Hyung-ro, representing management in the talks, entered the meeting without responding to reporters' questions.

Last month, Samsung Electronics posted an operating profit of 57.23 trillion won (US$38.9 billion) for the first quarter, up from 6.68 trillion won a year earlier, driven by strong demand for high-end memory chips used in artificial intelligence applications.

The labor dispute at Samsung Electronics, the world's largest memory chip maker and South Korea's most valuable company, has raised concerns that a walkout could disrupt production and upend the semiconductor supply chain as well as hurt the broader economy as a whole.

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