Government Says 'Notice to Scrap Samsung Electronics and SK hynix Bonus Agreement' Is False...Warns of Strong Response to Malicious Spread

[Financial News] The government has dismissed recent online rumors that it sent a notice to scrap the bonus agreement for Samsung Electronics and SK hynix, calling the claim "false" and warning that it will respond firmly to any malicious spread of such claims.
In a notice released on the 1st, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) and the Ministry of Employment and Labor (MOEL) said, "If false posts like this are maliciously spread in the future, we plan to respond strongly, including by reporting them to investigative authorities."
Recently, posts circulated on anonymous worker communities and elsewhere claiming that the government had sent notices to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix instructing them to fully review existing bonus agreements and establish a new compensation system aimed at sharing excess profits with the government.
Both MOTIE and MOEL said the claims were "completely untrue."
MOTIE denied that it had sent notices to Samsung Electronics and SK hynix to form a government-led think tank related to an excess-profit sharing scheme. MOEL also pushed back, saying that the posts currently being spread online about a "semiconductor excess-profit sharing scheme" and the "scrapping of bonus agreements" are "completely false."
Meanwhile, MOEL plans to hold a discussion forum later this month on semiconductor excess-profit distribution and related issues, as announced last month by Minister Kim Young-hoon. The specific agenda and timing are still being coordinated.
jhyuk@fnnews.com Kim Jun-hyuk Reporter