Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon entering his office [Seoul=Yonhap News]

Wage negotiations between Samsung Electronics management and labor, which were on the brink of a general strike due to the breakdown of post-mediation, will resume. Minister of Employment and Labor Kim Young-hoon will act as a mediator himself in these negotiations.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor announced through a press release today, "Labor-management negotiations at Samsung Electronics, mediated directly by Minister Kim, will be held at the Gyeonggi Regional Employment and Labor Office of the Ministry starting at 4 PM today."

This is an arrangement by Minister Kim for voluntary negotiations between labor and management, distinct from the post-mediation by the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC). It is also not a meeting to derive a binding mediation proposal.

Samsung Electronics' labor and management participated in the second post-mediation session presided over by the NLRC from the 18th to today, but failed to bridge their differences on key issues such as the profit-sharing method among business units.

The NLRC presented a mediation proposal that compromised the positions of both parties. While the union agreed to the proposal, the management withheld its decision, stating only that it would be reserved. Consequently, the NLRC declared the mediation unsuccessful.

With the union's planned general strike just one day away and mediation having failed, concerns heightened that a general strike at Samsung Electronics would ultimately materialize.

There was also an increased prospect that the government would exercise its emergency mediation rights to prohibit the strike and forcibly mediate.

In this situation, it is interpreted that Minister Kim has stepped in to encourage dialogue between both parties and facilitate an agreement until the very end.

Hong Kyung-ui, spokesperson for the Ministry of Employment and Labor, stated, "We will provide maximum support at the government level, without regard to format, to ensure that the issue is resolved through voluntary labor-management negotiations until the end." Regarding the exercise of emergency mediation rights, he said, "It is too early to comment specifically."

Minister Kim posted on X (formerly Twitter) this afternoon, "If you don't go all out, you'll never reach your goal" and "Hope is a flower that blooms in despair. It's not over until it's over."

Minister Kim also added the hashtags "#ResponsibleSamsung" and "#NegotiationsAreHarderThanStrikes" to his post.