President Lee Jae Myung Urges Labor Unions to Exercise Responsibility Amid Potential Samsung Strike

President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday warned that excessive labor-related demands by unionized workers could end up doing more harm than good to the unions and other fellow workers, urging a more responsible approach from unions when dealing with labor issues.

"While companies should treat workers as valuable partners in corporate management, workers and labor unions must also have a sense of responsibility," Lee said during a meeting with senior aides at Cheong Wa Dae.

"If certain labor organizations face public outcry for excessive or unfair, self-serving demands, it would harm not only the unions themselves but other workers as well," Lee said, urging a sense of solidarity with fellow laborers.

Lee's remarks came as a major labor union of Samsung Electronics Co. has threatened to launch an 18-day general strike starting May 21, demanding high bonuses in proportion to the company's record high revenue.

Some analysts predict operating losses could reach up to 10 trillion won (US$673.6 million) if the strike proceeds as planned.

Earlier in the day, Samsung said its first-quarter net profit surged more than fivefold to 47.22 trillion won from 8.22 trillion won a year earlier, driven by robust demand for high-end memory chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) applications.

"At a time when the artificial intelligence transition is exposing the labor and industrial sectors to a fundamental change, there is a need for a spirit of coexistence and cooperation to overcome this critical challenge," Lee noted.

"In order to create a society where all workers and the public can live together, there must be a sense of responsibility and solidarity," the president added.

Lee also noted this year's first observance of Labor Day on Friday as a statutory holiday, stressing the need for greater efforts to reduce labor market disparities and ensure safety at workplaces.

He also warned that a sharp increase in last month's producer prices could lead to increases in consumer prices one to two months later, urging officials to make all-out efforts to stabilize consumer prices.

The president cited prices of agricultural, livestock and fishery products, as well as logistics costs, as areas where more effective price stabilization measures are particularly needed.

At a subsequent press briefing, presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said Lee also instructed the education and justice ministries to look into whether school teachers face "inappropriate" legal liabilities over issues arising from student field trips.

The instruction followed Lee's reference at a Cabinet meeting earlier this week to a growing tendency among schools to avoid field trips due to concerns over legal liability for potential student safety incidents.

The remarks have sparked complaints from teacher groups about the legal burdens teachers could face in the event of safety incidents during field trips.