Gyeonggi Nambu Police Launch Investigation into Shareholder Group's Complaint Against Samsung, SK Hynix CEOs Over Performance Bonuses

The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency has launched a full-scale investigation into a complaint filed by a shareholder group against the chief executive officers of Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, alleging that performance bonuses are not subject to collective bargaining.

The Korea Shareholder Movement Headquarters announced today that the complaints—charging Samsung Electronics CEOs Jun Young-hyun and Roh Tae-moon and SK Hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung with professional breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Economic Crimes—have been assigned to the 1st and 2nd Investigation Divisions of the Gyeonggi Nambu Police Agency, respectively.

Previously, the group submitted a complaint to the National Office of Investigation under the Korean National Police Agency on July 22, claiming that the CEOs failed to thoroughly review labor-management agreements.

The group argues that these companies yielded to labor union demands for performance bonuses, creating a structure that leaks corporate assets, and that such actions constitute the crime of breach of trust.

The organization has maintained that calculating and allocating a certain percentage of pre-tax operating profit in advance as performance bonuses is illegal, and that the outflow of corporate funds, including performance bonuses, is a matter subject to a resolution at a shareholders' meeting and cannot be a subject of autonomous labor-management negotiations.

The group also filed a complaint with the Corruption Investigation Office for High-Ranking Officials last month against Employment and Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon on charges of abuse of authority and coercion.

The group requested punishment, arguing that even though performance bonuses are not subject to negotiation, Minister Kim failed to prevent Samsung Electronics' threatened strike last May and instead induced the conclusion of a tentative agreement.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.