[Anchor]

Following Samsung Electronics, which nearly went on strike, labor and management at SK Hynix are now locked in a conflict over performance bonuses. The management proposed paying part of the bonuses in company stock instead of cash, drawing strong opposition from the union.

[Reporter]

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

Under the current system, 80 percent of the bonus is paid in cash within the same year, and the remaining 20 percent is paid in cash over two years. Employees can also voluntarily choose to receive up to 50 percent of their bonus in company stock.

However, management has put a proposal on the table during this year's wage negotiations to make it mandatory to receive a portion of the bonus in company stock.

With record-breaking semiconductor booms expected to push SK Hynix's operating profit past 200 trillion won this year, employees are projected to receive more than 600 million won each in performance bonuses.

Industry watchers interpret that social controversies surrounding the size of the bonuses, the burden of massive cash payouts, and management's decision to link employee compensation to corporate value all played a role.

The burden of similar demands spreading to other conglomerates—leading Samsung Electronics to the brink of a strike and triggering fierce backlash from shareholders—is also seen as a contributing factor.

[Choi Tae-won / SK Group Chairman (on the 15th): "I believe our current stance is that one should not become happy by breaking the happiness of stakeholders."]br />
As the union pushes back, declaring that it will never accept any changes that result in losses, the gap between the two sides reportedly failed to narrow during the third round of negotiations on the 14th and yesterday's intensive working-level talks.

Amid the renewed controversy over performance bonuses, President Lee Jae-myung pointed out that the scope of matters subject to 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 something that should be subject to a labor dispute? In my view, it leans more toward not being one."]br />
Shareholder groups have also filed complaints with investigative agencies against Minister of Employment and Labor 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)