[News] South Korea Proposes Bill Allowing Working Hours Exemption to Boost Chip Industry

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According to a report from Liberty Times, citing the Reuters, on Monday (11th), South Korea’s ruling party proposed a special semiconductor bill to provide subsidies for chip manufacturers and remove the national cap on working hours, addressing potential risks stemming from Trump’s threats of tariffs and chip-related measures.

The bill would allow some employees involved in R&D to work longer hours, exempting them from the labor law’s 52-hour weekly work limit, as noted by the report.

The report indicated that as Asia’s fourth-largest economy, South Korea is highly dependent on trade, with the semiconductor industry playing a critical role. According to the Reuters report, chips accounted for 16% of South Korea’s total exports last year.

One of the bill’s sponsors, lawmaker Lee Chul-gyu, stated that China, Japan, Taiwan, and the U.S. are all subsidizing manufacturers amid the semiconductor trade war between the U.S. and China, and this bill will help South Korean companies face these challenges, as indicated by the report from the Reuters.

Last week, according to the report, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol cautioned about the risks arising from Trump’s threat to impose steep tariffs on Chinese imports, which could lead Chinese competitors to lower export prices and undermine Korean chip companies in international markets.

The report noted that the ruling party’s bill comes as chipmakers like Samsung Electronics face increasing competition from rivals in Taiwan, China, and other countries.

On the other hand, the report pointed out that the bill proposed by the ruling party still requires approval from the main opposition party to pass.

Samsung’s labor union has also voiced opposition, arguing that the company is using the law as an excuse for its “management failure,” as the report noted.

The report pointed out that, last month, Samsung issued an apology for its disappointing profits, acknowledging that it had fallen behind competitors TSMC and SK Hynix in capitalizing on the surging demand for AI chips.

Read more

• [News] South Korea’s Labor Regulations May Weaken its Semiconductor Competitiveness
• [News] Samsung Reportedly Joins TSMC in Halting 7nm and Below AI Chip Supplies to China

(Photo credit: Samsung)