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South Korea said it will deploy all available administrative and legal measures, including rarely used emergency arbitration, to stop a threatened labor strike at Samsung Electronics, the country’s largest employer and the world’s biggest memory chip maker. Prime Minister Kim Min-seok outlined the stance after an emergency meeting with ministers on Sunday, saying the goal is to avert production disruptions that could ripple through the global technology supply chain. Government-mediated pay talks between Samsung management and the National Samsung Electronics Union are due to resume on Monday and are seen as a crucial test of whether the two sides can narrow differences before the walkout date. South Korea’s intervention follows the union’s plan for an 18-day strike from May 21 to June 7 by more than 41,000 workers, centered on profit distribution and performance bonus gaps that widened after a 750% year-on-year jump in first-quarter operating profit to 57.2 trillion won driven by artificial intelligence demand. The union opposes a bonus scheme that offers memory chip staff payments up to six times higher than colleagues in logic and foundry units, which produce AI processors for major United States clients such as Tesla and Nvidia. Government estimates show a one-day shutdown at Samsung’s semiconductor plants could cost 1 trillion won, with broader economic damages potentially reaching 100 trillion won if production halts force the disposal of chemicals and raw materials, while analysts project the strike could cut Samsung’s operating profit by up to 31 trillion won.

Prepared by Christopher Adams and reviewed by editorial team.