Performance pay disputes at South Korean chipmakers are spreading to Taiwan and the United States, with talks at SK hynix and Samsung Electronics shared among overseas engineers. The developments have prompted rivals including TSMC and Micron to lift compensation and expand bonuses and stock rewards. In Taiwan, dissatisfaction over opaque bonus criteria has grown despite strong AI-driven profits. In the United States, competition is widening as big tech draws manufacturing talent with stock-based pay.

Kim Bong-jin, founding chair of the Korea Startup Forum and founder of Baemin, said the Tada incident left entrepreneurs with a psychological barrier to building innovative services. Former and current forum chairs, marking the group’s 10th anniversary, called for improvements to the startup regulatory environment, including a shift to negative regulation and the creation of a fair, open market for competition. They also urged continued dialogue with government and parliament to improve systems.