Samsung Electronics\' tentative 2026 wage agreement was approved in a union ballot on May 27, with 73.7 percent in favour and 95.5 percent turnout, effectively easing fears of a general strike. The joint bargaining body said 46,142 members voted in favour out of 62,616 participants from 65,593 eligible members. The deal introduces a special management performance bonus for the DS division, paid entirely in company shares, but has triggered opposition over compensation gaps and possible legal challenges by unions and shareholder groups.

Samsung Electronics and its labor union failed to reach an agreement in post-mediation talks over performance pay, and the National Labor Relations Commission recessed the meeting at 12:30 a.m. on May 20. The two sides will resume talks at 10 a.m. Key issues include scrapping a 50 percent cap on bonuses, how to distribute the bonus pool and whether to institutionalize any agreement, with a union-planned general strike set for May 21.