Samsung Electronics semiconductor executives rush to Pyeongtaek for union talks...all-out effort to avert strike

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[Financial News] Samsung Electronics executives, including Young-hyun Jun, head of the Device Solutions Division and vice chairman, will hold direct talks with the labor union. With the general strike date set for the 21st less than a week away, attention is focused on whether the semiconductor leadership's direct outreach could lead to a dramatic breakthrough in labor-management negotiations. 
According to industry sources on the 15th, Jun and other DS Division executives were confirmed to have visited the Samsung Electronics Pyeongtaek Campus that day to meet Choi Seung-ho, chairman of the Samsung Electronics Branch of the Supra-Enterprise Labor Union. The meeting reportedly included seven semiconductor executives, among them Kim Yong-kwan, president in charge of management strategy for the DS Division, Han Jin-man, president of Samsung Electronics Foundry Business, and Jae-hyuk Song, Chief Technology Officer (CTO). 
The executives appear to have stepped in directly after the Samsung Electronics union said it would push ahead with the general strike on the 21st. The union has not yet issued an official response, but the executives' direct visit to the site has raised the possibility that negotiations could resume.
Earlier, 18 Samsung Electronics executives, including Jun, issued a statement titled "We Apologize to the People" and offered a public apology, saying, "As our achievements grow, society's expectations of Samsung become stricter and greater, and we failed to properly address that," and "Labor-management issues have placed a heavy burden and concern on the public, the government, and our shareholders." 
They added, "The executives will put our heads together and pool our wisdom while looking at the current economic situation and the distant future of the Republic of Korea," and emphasized, "We will regard the labor union as one family and a shared community of destiny, and approach dialogue with an open mind, without conditions."
soup@fnnews.com Im Su-bin Reporter