"Cannot Accept This" Backlash... SK Hynix Faces Performance Bonus Controversy

[Anchor]

Following Samsung Electronics, which nearly went on strike, labor-management conflict over performance bonuses has now erupted at SK Hynix. The management proposed paying part of the performance bonus in company shares instead of cash, drawing strong opposition from the union.

Here is a report by Jeong Seong-jin.

[Reporter]

Just a year after reaching an agreement to pay 10 percent of operating profit as performance bonuses without a cap for 10 years, the labor and management of SK Hynix have entered a tug-of-war.

Under the current structure, 80 percent of the performance bonus is paid in cash that year, and the remaining 20 percent is distributed in cash over two years. Employees can also choose to receive up to 50 percent of their bonus in company shares.

However, management placed a proposal on this year's wage negotiation table to make the payment of a portion of the bonus in company shares mandatory.

With SK Hynix's operating profit projected to exceed 200 trillion won this year due to a record semiconductor boom, each employee is expected to receive more than 600 million won in performance bonuses.

This move is interpreted as being driven by social controversy surrounding the scale of the bonuses, the burden of large-scale cash payouts, and a management decision to link employee compensation to corporate value.

Analysts suggest that similar demands spreading to other major conglomerates—which pushed Samsung Electronics to the brink of a strike—along with fierce shareholder backlash, also weighed on management.

[Choi Tae-won / SK Group Chairman (on the 15th): "I believe that one must not become happy by breaking the happiness of stakeholders, which is what we currently hold..."]

With the union countering that it will never accept any changes that result in losses, it is reported that the gap in stances was not narrowed during the third round of negotiations on the 14th or in intensive working-level negotiations yesterday (the 21st).

Amid the resurfacing controversy over performance bonuses, President Lee Jae-myung pointed out that the scope of subjects eligible for labor disputes seems to be expanding too broadly.

[President Lee Jae-myung (yesterday, Cabinet Meeting): "The issue of distributing a certain percentage of operating profit—is that really a subject for labor dispute? In my case, I lean more toward thinking it is not."] (Note: The Cabinet meeting was held on July 21, 2026.)

Shareholder groups also filed complaints with investigative agencies against Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon and the heads of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, arguing that performance bonuses are not subject to labor-management negotiations.

(Video Editing: Park Na-young, Design: Seo Seung-hyun)

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