On August 5, the Korea Shareholders' Alliance confirmed that the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency has opened investigations into executives at Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix. Samsung CEO Jeon Young-hyun and Vice Chairman Roh Tae-moon are assigned to the First Investigation Unit, while SK Hynix CEO Kwak No-jeong is under the Second Unit – all facing potential charges under the Specific Economic Crimes Act.
The shareholder group filed complaints on July 22, alleging that management and unions set up unreasonable procedures during performance bonus negotiations, leading to potential misappropriation of corporate assets and breach of fiduciary duties.
The Alliance argues that employee bonuses should be determined by shareholder approval, not labor-management collective bargaining. It also claims that linking bonuses to a fixed percentage of operating profit may violate the law.
Separately, the group filed a complaint with the Senior Officials Corruption Investigation Office against Labor Minister Kim Young-hoon for alleged abuse of power, obstruction of rights, and coercion – citing official intervention in the Samsung Electronics union management bonus agreement signed in May.
Police will now review all evidence and legal grounds before deciding on further steps.
From ICgoodFind: When memory profits soar, bonus disputes follow. The legal scrutiny over how mega-profits are distributed could reshape internal compensation frameworks at Korea's chip giants.
