Lee says management rights deserve respect ahead of Samsung strike

May 18, 2026, 10:05 am

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Lee Jae-myung speaks during a Cabinet meeting and emergency economic inspection meeting at the presidential office in Seoul on May 6. /Yonhap

Lee Jae-myung said on May 18 that management rights should be respected just as labor rights are protected, as the government seeks to prevent a general strike at Samsung Electronics.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Lee said that while the Constitution guarantees fundamental rights for all citizens, those rights may be restricted for the public good as long as their essential nature is not violated.

“In South Korea, which has adopted a liberal democratic order and a capitalist market economy system, labor should be respected as much as businesses, and corporate management rights should be respected as much as labor rights,” Lee wrote.

He added that workers should receive fair compensation for their labor, while shareholders who bear risks and losses through investment also deserve a share of corporate profits.

Lee also referred to a historical provision in South Korea’s founding Constitution that once recognized workers’ rights to participate in corporate profit-sharing.

The president emphasized that both labor rights and management rights must operate within the constitutional framework.

“Where there is sunlight, there is also shadow. The higher the mountain, the deeper the valley,” Lee wrote, adding the Chinese idiom “excess leads to reversal.”

He further stated that society should move toward a future in which people live well together through solidarity and shared responsibility rather than through the accumulation of power and wealth.

Although Lee did not directly mention Samsung Electronics or its labor union, political observers interpreted the message as a balanced appeal directed at both management and labor as Samsung’s labor and management representatives resumed post-mediation negotiations on the same day.

The government has already indicated that it could consider emergency intervention measures if a full-scale strike at Samsung Electronics threatens the national economy.

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said in a televised public address the previous day that the government would pursue all possible measures, including emergency mediation, if strike action caused serious damage to the national economy.

The presidential office later confirmed that Kim’s remarks reflected the government’s official position.

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