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President warns of 'excessive or unfair' union demands as Samsung strike looms

Published: 30 Apr. 2026, 18:29

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a senior aides’ meeting at the Blue House on April 30. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Amid Korea's largest chipmaker Samsung Electronics' pending strike next month, President Lee Jae Myung warned that the "excessive or unfair demands" of "certain labor unions" can harm not only the said union but other laborers as a whole.

“If some unionized workers pursue excessive or unfair demands solely for their own benefit and draw public criticism, it harms not only the unions in question but also other workers,” Lee said during a senior aides’ meeting at the presidential office on Thursday, a day before Labor Day. “A sense of responsibility and solidarity is needed to build a society where all workers and all citizens can live together.”

He also stressed that not only workers but also employers should share the same mindset toward workers.

“Everyone has a family member who can either be a worker or an employer, and in a broader sense, we are all members of the same nation,” Lee said. “It would be good to put ourselves in each other’s shoes and build a society where we can live together.”

Lee continued referring to the government as "the largest employer in Korea" and that “the government should set an example as a model employer.”

He also emphasized coexistence between workers and employers in response to the restructuring of industrial sites driven by the development of AI.

“The transition to AI will expose labor and industrial sites to fundamental changes,” Lee said. “To overcome such a significant challenge, we need a spirit of coexistence and cooperation.”

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a senior aides’ meeting at the Blue House on April 30. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

“Employers should treat workers as valued partners in running businesses, and workers and unions should also share a sense of responsibility, as well as a sense of solidarity among workers as well,” he added.

May 1, which had been referred to as Workers’ Day until last year, has been designated as the official public holiday, Labor Day, starting this year, after the revision of a public holidays act last month.

“From this year, Labor Day has not only regained its rightful name of labor but has also been designated a public holiday, making its significance particularly meaningful,” Lee said. “I hope tomorrow will be a meaningful time for all of us to share and reflect on the value and meaning of labor.”

Lee also stressed the importance of reducing labor market disparities to make Korea a nation that properly respects and treats labor, alongside pushing efforts to ensure workplace safety.

“The effects of policies are beginning to appear, such as a recent decline in industrial accident fatalities, but we still need to speed up on-site supervision and improvements to related systems,” the president said. “Working conditions for nonregular workers must also be improved in a fair and reasonable direction.”

Lee also noted the first quarter GDP growth rate reaching its highest level in five years and six months and expecting exports in April to increase significantly compared to the same month last year.

“Despite the difficult external conditions due to the war in the Middle East, the Korean economy continues to show a steady and solid recovery trend, which is encouraging,” he said.

President Lee Jae Myung speaks during a senior aides’ meeting at the Blue House on April 30. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

However, he cautioned against feeling reassured too early because of the Iran war.

“Since negotiations between the United States and Iran on ending the war remain uncertain, we must not let our guard down,” he said. “A moment of complacency — thinking ‘things have gone well so far, so nothing will go wrong’ — could deal a serious blow to the people’s livelihoods, so we should reexamine the entire emergency response system with a sense of vigilance.”

He also noted to take proactive measures against consumer prices as producer prices rose significantly last month.

“Since such increases typically affect consumer prices one or two months later, we must strengthen proactive measures to stabilize prices,” the president said, calling for “more effective measures to stabilize prices of agricultural, livestock and fishery products and to ease logistics cost burdens.”

“We must respond firmly and strictly, with a zero tolerance for antisocial market-disrupting practices such as hoarding.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY OH HYUN-SEOK [[email protected]]